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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27969962">A Little Bit Little</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/0uter_space/pseuds/0uter_space'>0uter_space</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Anxiety, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Hurt/Comfort, Literal Sleeping Together, Luke Patterson Needs a Hug (Julie and The Phantoms), Maybe more characters in the future, Non-Sexual Age Play, Panic Attacks, little!luke, pure adorablness, the guys are all really good friends and caretakers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:33:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,729</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27969962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/0uter_space/pseuds/0uter_space</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The guys had an...interesting dynamic to say the least.<br/>Of course they were like any other group of best friends who loved and supported each other through thick and thin, but sometimes, Luke just needed a little bit of extra attention.<br/>-<br/>Or<br/>-<br/>Luke’s adventures and explorations in the great big world of age regression.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex &amp; Bobby | Trevor Wilson &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie, Alex &amp; Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson &amp; Luke Patterson, Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>141</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Feeling Small</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The guys had an...interesting dynamic to say the least. <br/>
Of course they were like any other group of best friends who loved and supported each other through thick and thin, but sometimes, Luke just needed a little bit of extra attention. </p><p><br/>
It started the week that Luke had run from his home, bag packed so full it was practically bursting at the seams, guitar case strapped around his back as he biked to the studio with tears in his eyes. When he arrived, the guys comforted him with no questions asked, wiping tears from his cheeks and wrapping him in suffocatingly warm hugs. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so safe just being himself, and on that night, he made the decisions that he would never again put up walls that would block out his band - his family, the people he would willingly surrender his soul up to. Which is why when he found himself near tears at 1am during a band sleepover a few days later, his own arms wrapped around his body as he realized how desperately he needed to feel human comfort, he gave into the temptation and slowly crawled over to the pullout couch where Alex was sleeping, tapping gently on his shoulder. <br/>
Ever since the night he ran away, the boys could tell his mental health was at an all time low and made him promise that if he <em>ever</em> felt he needed help, even if it was in the middle of the night, he shouldn’t hesitate to let one of them know. <br/>
Alex, being the lightest sleeper of the bunch, stirred for a moment before his eyes opened groggily as he turned to face Luke. It only took him a moment to see the distress on Luke’s face, though, and as soon as he did, his eyes widened from their squinty state as he sat up woozily from the couch. <br/>
“Luke?” He asked, frowning as he rubbed at his eyes. “Are you alright?” <br/>
Luke had to bite his lip to keep from crying anymore. It made him feel so young, so little, but he didn’t want Alex to think he was baby, especially considering what he was about to ask for. <br/>
“Cuddles?” He replied, biting his lip to stave off an onslaught of unwelcome tears. <br/>
Alex’s face softened and he immediately reached his arm out towards the brunette, guiding him to lay down next to him on the pullout. <br/>
Reggie and Bobby were still very much asleep, having opted to sleep in the loft due to their desire to stay up late talking while the other two wanted to go to bed earlier. <br/>
Alex pulled back the covers and helped Luke underneath, tucking him in and pulling him close, the shorter boy’s head to his chest, listening to the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat. He fell back asleep feeling safe and warm and like there was no place he would have rather been.</p><p>Things only began changing more rapidly from that night on. <br/>
Luke felt most relaxed when he was with the boys, whether he was just in their vicinity as they wrote or played music, or when he was cuddled up between them on the couch watching one of the movies Bobby stole from his house. <br/>
The relaxation wouldn’t last long, though. <br/>
He’d soon realize that he was beginning to slip into that strange mindset again, the one where things all got a bit fuzzier and life made less sense, and everything just seemed so <em>big </em>- or maybe he just felt so <em>little</em>. <br/>
He’d panic and find an excuse to leave the studio, then go for a short walk to clear his head. He’d be back to normal by the time he returned and he’d ignore the concerned looks the guys gave him. He was alright. <br/>
But was he?<br/>
His frantic search for answers eventually lead him to the library, where he found what he was looking for in the most unlikely of places: a stupid little book about anxiety in teens and young adults. <br/>
He hid himself behind an unused bookshelf as his eyes rapidly scanned the pages, things finally clicking into place for him. The answer was age-regression. When he felt himself slipping, he was just entering a younger mindset, and apparently by indulging that mindset by doing activities that little kids would do (like playing games and coloring), his anxiety would supposedly reduce. <br/>
As he shoved the book back onto a random shelf and speed-walked out of the building as inconspicuously as possible, he realized that he now had more questions than he started with, but what better way to answer those questions than experiment, right?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I know it’s a bit short but I have more written that I plan on posting very soon. I’m glad to be adding to this underused tag because age regression is adorable and Luke is adorable and this whole thing is just very adorable.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Teddy Bear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“There, buried deep in the corner of Bobby’s closet, was a chocolate brown teddy bear, one with two beady black eyes, a red ribbon around its neck, and fur that looked slightly worn from years of a child’s love.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Now that Luke was no longer living at home, the boys would take turns sneaking him into their houses so he wouldn’t have to spend every night alone in the studio. Climbing through their windows at 12am got tiring, but it was worth not having to suffer through the loneliness that tended to claw at the inside of his stomach like a rabid animal. <br/>
Tonight, the night he had come back from his insightful trip to the library, he would be staying with Bobby. <br/>
The four of them were wrapping up their late-night rehearsal and getting ready to head home, exhausted from the past 3 hours of “giving it their all”. They packed up and began to file out, each of them heading their separate ways except for Luke and Bobby. The two chatted quietly as they strolled down the moonlit pavement to Bobby’s house, located only a few blocks away. <br/>
As the night had progressed, Luke had begun to get tired, and he could feel himself slowly beginning to slip. He tried to distract himself, staying focused on the story Bobby was telling him about a girl in his English class, but he knew he could only hold himself together for so long. If Bobby had noticed something was off with Luke, he chose not to say anything. <br/>
Bobby’s parents were away on a trip for the weekend, so they were able to enter his house through the front door like normal human beings (which was a relief, since Bobby’s bedroom was on the second floor). They made their way up to Bobby’s room, ready to just crash. Luke let his backpack fall to the floor and he began to rummage for the sleep clothes he packed, but let out a groan and stood up upon realizing he forgot his sweatpants at the studio. <br/>
“Hey man, is it alright if I borrow some sweatpants to sleep in?” He asked Bobby, who was returning his electric guitar to its rightful hanger on the wall next to his others. <br/>
“Yeah, sure. Just find some in my closet, I’m gonna go shower,” the other boy replied, making sure the guitar hung straight before heading to the bathroom. <br/>
Luke went over to Bobby’s closet as he was instructed, opening it and beginning to search for something to wear. As he bent down to grab a pair of grey sweatpants from the bottom shelf, though, something deeper into the closet caught his eye. <br/>
He paused, opening the doors a bit more, and his eyes widened. There, buried deep in the corner of Bobby’s closet, was a chocolate brown teddy bear, one with two beady black eyes, a red ribbon around its neck, and fur that looked slightly worn from years of a child’s love. He waited until he heard the shower turn on, making sure that Bobby wouldn’t be coming back in, before slowly reaching in to grab the bear. <br/>
The feeling of the soft, slightly matted fur beneath his fingers sent an overwhelming wave of comfort through his body, leaving him warm and tingly and fuzzy inside and- <em>oh no, he was regressing again</em>. <br/>
He told himself that he was going to experiment, to find out what his limits were and what he enjoyed, but now was certainly <em>not</em> the time. He couldn’t help it, though. The bear was looking up at him with those stupid beady eyes and it’s stupid arms out, like it was practically begging him for a hug. He took one more look at the plushie before completely loosing his composure, bringing the toy to his chest and squeezing it in a tight, desperate hug. <br/>
It wasn’t like cuddling his boys, nothing was like cuddling his boys, but it was damn near close. The soft presence between his arms made his anxieties practically fizzle away. The gap left by the feeling of home that he’d lost the night he ran way filled gradually the longer he let himself feel small. <br/>
Eventually, he held the bear back in front of him, looking at it thoughtfully before making up his mind. He returned to his bag and hastily shoved the stuffed animal inside, making sure to bury it beneath the other items. Bobby wouldn’t notice, the thing clearly hadn’t been touched in years. <br/>
He zipped up his bag and grabbed the sweatpants from the closet, changing quickly before burying himself beneath the covers on Bobby’s full-sized bed and turning away from the door, hoping that, maybe, if he could fall asleep before the time Bobby came back, the other boy would have no idea anything was wrong. <br/>
It was five-or-so more minutes before the shower turned off, and another five before he heard the bathroom door creak open. <br/>
Bobby’s footsteps approached the room and Luke squeezed his eyes shut tight as the rhythm guitarist rummaged through his closet for clothing. A minute later, Luke felt his warm body slip into the bed behind him, and despite his intentions to make Bobby believe he was asleep, his temptations overtook him. He rolled over and clung onto Bobby’s t-shirt, burying his face into his chest. <br/>
“Goodnight, Luke,” Bobby chuckled, a smile obvious in his voice. <br/>
“G’night,” Luke mumbled in response, already feeling the depths of sleep latching onto the edges of his mind. <br/>
It wasn’t long before he was out completely, dreaming of coloring in pictures messily with crayons, his new teddy sitting beside him. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know things are moving along a bit slowly, but the boys will find out soon enough, don’t worry! Also, Luke with a teddy bear is adorable.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Coloring Book</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“He felt so small, so free, and he loved it. <br/>He let himself color outside the lines, and he made his puppies blue and his trees orange. But it all didn’t matter, because he was by himself and allowed to be as little as he wanted.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was Friday, and Luke was, for once, thankful that all the other guys were busy. He was in desperate need of alone time to figure out what was going on with him and this regression business.<br/>He had been busking at the pier all morning, feeling like he was in his natural habitat with an acoustic guitar in his hands and lyrics on his lips. Over the few hours he played, he managed to scrounge up enough money in his guitar case for a much needed shopping trip. <br/>He packed up his guitar and dropped it off at the studio before beginning to make his way to the dollar store, the only place he could really afford to buy more than one item before going broke. Trips to dollar store with spare cash were far from unusual, but knowing what he came looking for had his heart beating out of his chest. He couldn’t help but feeling like he looked suspicious as he headed towards the children’s section, despite the knowledge that he probably just looked like some kid buying stuff for a younger sibling. <br/>He fidgeted with some change in his pocket as he scanned the shelves, mouth spreading into a small smile when he found what he was looking for: a small coloring book, one with childish pictures of cartoon animals on the front, and box of crayons, perfect for filling in the images. He grabbed the items off the shelf, tucking the book beneath his arm as he briefly looked around again to see if there was anything else that caught his eye. After deciding that the book and crayons were all he needed for the time being, he payed for the items with his head down and a dusting of pink on his cheeks, and then left for the studio once again. <br/>He opened the door slowly with his items behind his back, just to make sure no one was inside to see what he was doing. Determining that the coast was clear, he made his way inside and up to the loft, shutting the door behind him. Sighing, he flopped down on one of the beanbag chairs that sat there and laid the coloring book out in front of him before opening the box of crayons. He opened his backpack and pulled out the teddy bear that was buried at the very bottom, taking a moment to pet its soft fur and hold it close. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes. He had spent so much time trying to stop himself from accidentally regressing that trying to do so intentionally for the first time felt, well, odd. It wasn’t too difficult to relax into the feeling that had been trying to consume him for days, though. He let the anxiety seep out of him and replace itself with childish giddiness, the stress of nearly being an adult going out of focus, all soft and fuzzy like his new teddy. He couldn’t help but smile. It all felt so right. <br/>He flipped himself so that he was on his stomach, his feet swinging in the air behind him, his coloring book open on the floor with his crayons in one hand and his teddy in the other.<br/>He felt so small, so free, and he <em>loved</em> it. <br/>He let himself color outside the lines, and he made his puppies blue and his trees orange. But it all didn’t matter, because he was by himself and allowed to be as little as he wanted. <br/>“Do you like my drawing, Teddy?” He asked the small bear, a smile on his face as he held up the messy but completed picture. The toy just stared back with its big black eyes, unmoving. Luke smiled anyways. “I looooove coloring. I just wanna sit here are color with you forever! Maybe I can put my pictures on the wall...maybe I can give them to Alex and Reggie and Bobby,” he exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement. A second later, though, he frowned, remembering that he couldn’t let the other guys know he was little sometimes. They would think he was some sort of freak, maybe even try to kick him out of the band. A million bad scenarios ran through his mind, ones that included him being forcefully shoved out of the studio and having to sleep on the streets for the rest of his life. He shook his head and grabbed his teddy, flipping himself onto his back with the stuffed animal held in the air. “You’ll never leave me, Teddy. Will you?” He asked the bear quizzically. It still didn’t move, didn’t utter a word, but Luke smiled, pulling it into another hug. “Of course you won’t. You’re my bestest friend ever!” <br/>He wasn’t sure how much longer he spent coloring up in the loft, the studio silent except for the sound of his crayons scribbling on paper and his soft humming. His focus was broken, though, by the startling sound of the studio door being pushed open and the voices of his band mates entering the garage. His eyes widened in fear. He had completely forgot they had a band practice this afternoon. <br/>He scrambled to sit up, grateful that his bag was already there and open for him to shove his regression items into. He zipped it up and tossed it into the corner before squeezing his eyes shut, willing himself to become big again. It worked to an extent, he was able to think like a big kid again, but everything still seemed a bit softer. <br/>“Luke, you up there?” He heard Reggie’s voice call out from below him. <br/>“Y-yeah, I’ll be right down,” he replied, hoping he didn’t sound too young. <br/>He took one last look at his backpack before making his way down the ladder, giving the boys a small smile. <br/>“Have you just been hanging out here all day?” Alex asked, pulling his drumsticks out of his back pocket and twirling them between his fingers. <br/>“Uh, yeah. Yeah, just...hanging out,” he lied, hoping he sounded honest. Alex and Bobby gave him weird looks, but Reggie remained delightfully oblivious as he nodded and headed towards his bass. The other guys shrugged it off, though (much to Luke’s relief), and headed towards their respective instruments. <br/>Throughout practice, Luke couldn’t stop thinking about how nice it would be to have his three favorite people taking care of him. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There we have it, Luke’s first time properly regressing! From here on out we are pretty much just gonna be diving straight into the fluffy stuff because I mean that’s the best part.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A Secret Spilled</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“There was Luke, laying curled up on the faded couch, a small teddy bear hugged tightly to his chest with toy cars scattered across the floor. But possibly the most unexplainable part of the picture was the thumb of Luke’s right hand placed firmly in his mouth.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luke had been regressing regularly for about a month now. Any time he was alone in the studio, he’d use the opportunity to go into his little headspace. He’d steal one of Alex’s hoodies, all of them large enough for the sleeves to cover his hands, and he’d fish his teddy bear out of his backpack. Coloring was his favorite activity in his headspace (he’d already had to buy 2 new coloring books), but he’d also found some toy cars at the dollar store that managed to entertain him for hours. <br/>
The day was Monday, and like any other Monday during summer break, the other guys were either working or spending time with their families. Luke was at the studio - as he always was nowadays - in his headspace while he played with his cars. <br/>
“Vroom vroooooom,” Luke shouted as he shot his favorite toy car across the studio floor, giggling as it impacted the wall on the other side of the room. “Red wins! What do you think, Teddy?” He asked, turning to the bear that sat perched beside him. It didn’t matter that teddy couldn’t respond. He knew that he agreed anyways. <br/>
He stood up and ran to collect his cars from the other side of the garage, bringing them back to his starting point to repeat the game again. <br/>
He didn’t last long, running around the studio with his toys, before he began to feel a sleepiness tugging at his limbs. He sighed, grabbing his teddy and favorite car and falling onto the couch. He could afford a quick nap. It was early, the guys wouldn’t be back for a while and he’d be long awake by then. <br/>
With his favorite toys held close to him, he shut his eyes and let sleep take over, warm and cozy in Alex’s pink hoodie.</p>
<p>Alex and Reggie had met up with Bobby at the music store he worked at so they could all head to the studio together after his shift. The three boys were currently walking down the street, talking and goofing off as the sun began to set.  <br/>
They approached the studio’s grande double doors, Alex reaching to pull them open.  “Reggie, if you suggest we order pizza one more time, I swear on my life I-“ Alex looked inside the studio and paused, his jaw nearly dropping. The sight he saw was an unexpected one, to say the least. <br/>
There was Luke, laying curled up on the faded couch, a small teddy bear hugged tightly to his chest with toy cars scattered across the floor. But possibly the most unexplainable part of the picture was the thumb of Luke’s right hand placed firmly in his mouth. <br/>
Alex look at the other two boys standing next to him, confusion written on his face. Based on their expressions that mirrored his, though, he could tell neither of them had any more of an idea about what this was than he did. They exchanged another look, one of silent agreement, and very carefully shut the door behind them before walking over to the couch. Alex, being the one with the “softest touch” in the band, crouched down next to where Luke was sleeping. His face was relaxed, unlike how it usually was nowadays with the stress of the band and having run away. His lips were pink around his finger and his face was slightly flushed. He looked so <em>small</em>, and Alex’s too-big-hoodie only contributed to the illusion. <br/>
Alex very gently placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder, giving him a gentle shake while Reggie and Bobby stood tensed behind him. <br/>
“Luke? Hey Luke, you think you can wake up for us?” <br/>
They all silently held their breathe as Luke’s eyes cracked open, still clouded by sleep. “Um, hey buddy,” Alex said, rubbing circles on his shoulder. Luke squinted his eyes in confusion as he pulled his thumb out of his mouth, like he wasn’t sure if the guys were really there or not. Alex gave him a soft smile, though, and that’s when Luke panicked. <br/>
He shot up from couch, immediately beginning to hyperventilate and apologize profusely.<br/>
“I-I’m so sorry! Please don’t kick me out of the band! I can be big, I promise! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, please-“ Luke’s rant was cut off by a sob and the other guys exchanged a panicked look before Alex grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug. The others were quick to join, all of them rubbing comforting circles on his back or stroking their fingers through his hair. <br/>
“Hey, hey, shhhh. We aren’t going to kick you out of the band. Everything is going to be ok. But it would be nice if you could explain what’s going on, just so we can understand better?” Alex said, the statement coming out as a question. <br/>
“Yeah, and...is that my old teddy bear?” Bobby asked, eyeing the toy that still sat on the couch. Alex jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow, causing him to let out a quiet “ow” before focusing back on Luke. <br/>
“I’m-I’m so s-sorry for taking ‘im, but I didn’t have anything else an’ I saw him an’ I though you wouldn’t need him anymore an-“<br/>
“No no no, it’s alright. Please don’t apologize. It’s...he’s better off with someone who can give him the love he needs,” Bobby said hesitantly, giving Luke a comforting smile. Luke looked back up at him, mirroring his smile with a watery one. The lead singer lifted his thumb up to his mouth, but soon realized what he was doing and dropped his hand with flushed cheeks. <br/>
“So are you, like, secretly a little kid or something?” Reggie asked, making Alex give him a stern look that told him to be more careful with his words. <br/>
“I-I dunno,” Luke replied shakily, unable to come up with a response. He was trying his hardest to be big again, to clear the fog of his headspace from his mind, but the stress of the moment suppressed his efforts and kept him feeling little. <br/>
“Let’s give him some time to calm down before we start asking questions,” Alex announced, clearly trying to be gentle with his words so he didn’t upset Luke further. “Is that all right with you?” The question was directed towards Luke this time. He nodded, his eyes on his beaten up sneakers as small hiccups wracked his body. <br/>
They all leaned back into the hug and stayed like that for a little while, Luke’s breathing slowly becoming normal. At last, the fogginess was beginning to clear his mind and he was starting to feel like big Luke again. <br/>
“I can talk about it now,” he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. <br/>
“Let’s go sit down on the couch,” Bobby suggested, and they all nodded. <br/>
It took a minute after they all got settled for Luke to speak again. The others let him take his time. <br/>
“It started, like, a month or two ago...and I don’t know what really caused it? Running away definitely played a part. But I’d start spiraling sometimes. Everything would get super fuzzy, and I’d suddenly feel so <em>small</em>. I didn’t know what was happening, but I really wanted to find out. So I went to the, ugh, the library-“ Reggie let out a little shocked gasp that made Luke smile. “-and I found this book. And it brought up something called age regression? It was, like, exactly how I was feeling, and it talked about how people would act like a kid when they were in that little headspace to relieve their anxiety. So I decided to start doing it on my own,” Luke finished. When he looked up, the other guys were staring at him in mild awe. <br/>
“So...you’re kinda like a transformer?” Reggie asked, genuinely intrigued. Bobby and Alex both rolled their eyes, but Luke smiled. <br/>
“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am.” <br/>
“And you’ve been doing this whole thing on your own? You know you can talk to us about anything, right?” Alex asked, seeming almost slightly offended that Luke was scared to tell them. Luke bit his lip trained his eyes onto his lap where he was fiddling with his fingers. <br/>
“I know that. Of course I know that. It’s just...it’s weird. And I thought you’d think I was weird for doing it,” he replied. <br/>
“Luke, you’d have to try really hard to be the weird one. We have Reggie, remember?”<br/>
“Hey!”<br/>
“And besides,” Bobby continued, “we could never, EVER tell you that you’re weird for doing something that makes you happy.”<br/>
Luke tried to suppress his grin, but it was difficult upon seeing the smiles on the other guys’ faces (Reggie’s concealed by an exaggerated pout).<br/>
“You know, if you need someone to, like, take care of you or play with you when you’re little, I wouldn’t mind,” Alex suggested shyly. <br/>
“Really?” Luke asked with wide eyes. He had barely expected them to let him stay in the band, let alone have one of them offer to be his caretaker.<br/>
“I wouldn’t mind either,” exclaimed Reggie. “I love kids!” <br/>
“Yeah, same here. I have to admit, you were pretty cute when you were asleep before,” Bobby chuckled. <br/>
Luke looked at the three of them with disbelief, tears welling up in his eyes again. But this time, they were tears of happiness. <br/>
“Thank you thank you thank you all so much,” he said excitedly, diving into Alex’s arms and grabbing the other boys by the fabric of their shirts so that they, too, could join the band hug/cuddle. “I love you guys,” he mumbled, feeling more content than he ever had since he’d run away from home that fateful night. <br/>
“We love you, too,” Alex replied, and the others didn’t need to speak up for them all to know the feeling was mutual. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yay! The guys know now! I’ve already written chapter 5 and it’s pretty much just 2,000 words of pure age reg. fluff, so prepare for that. Also, if anyone has any requests for what you would like to see happen with Luke in his headspace, please do comment, because I’m not good at coming up with ideas lol.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Playtime and Meltdowns</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“‘Is it alright if I’m little today? You guys don’t have to take care of me or anything like that, I know today is supposed to be a hang out day, but I just thought that if-‘<br/>‘Relax,’ Bobby cut him off, a smile on his face. ‘Of course it’s ok. We would never stop you. And we’ll totally play with you. I know Alex has been dying to see what you’re like when you’re little.’”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luke knew that when the guys said they’d take care of him, they weren’t lying. That didn’t keep him from holding himself back, though. He’d never been openly little in front of them before (other than the time they found out about his age regression), and he couldn’t help but be nervous about the idea. The guys didn’t pressure him, they never would, but he could tell they were still curious. <br/>It had been a week since he told them, and as a result, a week since he’s had the chance to regress. He was feeling more stressed and anxious than he had in a long time. <br/>It was afternoon, and band practice for the day had just finished. The guys decided that they were going to stick around the studio for the rest of the day, just to hang out. Luke figured that if he was going to get over his fears, now would be a better chance than ever. <br/>“Um, guys?” He asked, getting the other boys’ attention. They all stopped what they were doing and turned to face him, causing his posture to stiffen up with nervousness. “Is it alright if I’m little today? You guys don’t have to take care of me or anything like that, I know today is supposed to be a hang out day, but I just thought that if-“<br/>“Relax,” Bobby cut him off, a smile on his face. “Of course it’s ok. We would never stop you. And we’ll totally play with you. I know Alex has been dying to see what you’re like when you’re little.” <br/>Luke and Alex both flushed at that statement, the latter giving Bobby a half-assed glare. <br/>“Ooh, me too! Do you like Star Wars when you’re little? We could watch Star Wars!” Reggie exclaimed, way too excited about a series he’s watched too many times to count. <br/>“We are <em>not</em> watching Star Wars again. You already made us watch them <em>all</em> this week,” Alex said, clearly frustrated with Reggie’s one-track mind. <br/>“We could do anything, really. It’s enough that you guys are already willing to watch over me,” Luke grinned, looking forward to being cared for by his three favorite people. <br/>“Anything that makes you happy makes us happy too,” Alex replied, returning the smile. <br/>“So how do you, like, regress?” Asked Bobby curiously. Luke began walking towards his backpack, kneeling down next to it. <br/>“I just start doing little kid activities and it’s usually enough to put me in my headspace,” he informed, beginning to pull items out of his bag one by one. First was his teddy bear, then his coloring books and crayons, and finally, his set of toy cars. He felt awkward doing this in front of his boys for the first time, but he knew they would never judge him for anything. <br/>Alex, being able to read people like he does, could sense Luke’s uncomfortableness. He knelt beside him and grabbed Luke’s most recent coloring book, this one with filled with different scenes containing dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes.<br/>“Wanna color? I can color with you, if you’d like,” Alex suggested, holding up the book. Luke, unable to help himself, grinned widely before snatching the book from Alex’s hand, opening it up to the next blank page. <br/>“You can have the pterodactyl,” he said excitedly, ripping said page from his book. “I’ll do the T-Rex. They’re my favorite.”<br/>Alex looked up at the other guys, unable to contain his excitement at Luke willingly being himself in front of them. <br/>“Well, what are you guys waiting for? Come join us,” he exclaimed. <br/>They boys didn’t hesitate to join them on the floor, Luke tearing a different page out of his coloring book for each of them, practically glowing with joy as he did so. <br/>A few minutes later, all the of them were coloring in their pages in a circle on the floor, making small talk to help Luke enter his headspace and make him more comfortable. <br/>“Does your bear have a name?” Reggie asked, referring to the stuffed animal that was now located directly next to Luke’s drawing, as if to watch over him while he colored. <br/>“I just call ‘im Teddy,” the other boy replied, growing increasingly enthralled by the T-Rex on the page in front of him. Regressing was never really difficult for him, but with the boys helping, it felt so natural that it happened almost immediately. <br/>“Do you have any other stuffies?” Bobby asked. Luke shook his head and frowned for a moment before perking back up. <br/>“I don’t need any more. Teddy is a great friend,” he responded before sticking his tongue out as he became more focused on coloring. The other three smiled, unable to help themselves due to how adorable and happy Luke looked.<br/>They all colored quietly for another ten minutes (except for Luke’s soft humming), Alex, Reggie, and Bobby all more focused on Luke than their own pages. Soon enough, Luke dropped the blue crayon that he was holding, sitting up on his knees and grabbing his picture in hands. <br/>“Look at my dinosaur!” He said with a silly grin as he thrusted the page out in front of him for the other boys to see. <br/>The picture was messy, to say the least. Anyone would have guessed it was done by an overexcited toddler instead of a 17 year old, but that was ok. They didn’t even need to pretend to be excited. <br/>“Wow, buddy! That’s awesome,” Alex exclaimed, taking a closer look at Luke’s scribbly T-Rex. <br/>“Yeah, we could totally hang it up,” Reggie agreed. “The loft could use some color.”<br/>“Dang, your dinosaur is definitely a lot better than mine,” Bobby admitted sheepishly, holding up the triceratops that was colored completely brown, a clear lack of childish creativity. Luke giggled, a contagious kind of giggle that made the rest of them grin in response. <br/>“Can we play cars now?” The little asked, his attention span clearly morphing into that of a toddler, too. <br/>“Yeah, sure,” Alex replied, setting all the coloring materials aside on the coffee table as Luke went to grab his set of toy cars. He kept hold of the red one but put the others on the ground in front of the guys.<br/>“I’m red, red’s the best,” he declared, holding up the car. <br/>“I call green,” Reggie shouted triumphantly, picking up the car from the ground with a smirk. Alex rolled his eyes and picked up a random car from the ground, Bobby doing the same. <br/>“So, how do we play?” The rhythm guitarist asked, inspecting the small toy. <br/>“We race!” Luke answered, skipping to the other side of the room, the others following closely behind.  “I count to three, and then we push ‘em!” <br/>He crouched down and placed his car in the ground, ready to shove it forcefully to other side of the room. <br/>“I bet I’m going to win this race,” teased Bobby confidently, getting his car into position beside Luke. <br/>“Nuh-uh! Red is the speediest, he never loses!” Luke retaliated. Bobby smirked playfully but said nothing in return, waiting for Luke to count them off. <br/>“Three, two, one, go!” The boy shouted, and they all launched their cars across the room. None of them were too sure how the rules of this game worked (except Luke, of course), as all the cars seemed to hit the back wall of the studio at pretty much the same time. Luke jumped up and giggled, bouncing in the balls of his feet as he clapped his hands. “See? Red won. Told you so!” <br/>Reggie and Bobby both looked over at Alex, identical looks of amused confusion on their faces as Luke ran to the other side of the room to retrieve the cars. Alex just shrugged, suppressing a smile at the sight of Luke bouncing excitedly across the room. <br/>“I call a rematch,” Reggie announced, smirking at Bobby.<br/>“Oh, it’s on,” the other boy replied. <br/>The four of them continued to play with Luke’s cars for another thirty-ish minutes before Luke began to visibly tire out. His eyes were a bit droopy and his bouncing around the room turned into slow running. <br/>“You getting sleepy, bud?” Alex asked, hoping Luke would admit to his obvious exhaustion and willingly take a nap. The boy in question, however, widened his eyes at the insinuation and rapidly shook his head. <br/>“No! I’m not tired! Wan’ keep playin’,” he defended with a pout, the clear tiredness in his voice betraying his argument. <br/>“Luke, it’s ok if you’re tired. You can take a nap and we can play later,” Bobby chimed in, hoping that if they reassured him that it was ok, he’d be willing to get some rest. <br/>“I said, ‘m not sleepy!” Luke whined, stomping his foot on the ground in a childish manner. The other three exchanged slightly panicked looks. It was their first day looking after Luke when he was little and they were already having to deal with an overtired toddler. Alex, ever the reasonable 17 year old that he was, stepped forward. <br/>“Luke, we can’t keep playing if you’re tired. It won’t be any fun! How about you take a quick nap and we can keep playing when you wake up,” he suggested. <br/>“‘m not taking a nap! Don’t wanna!” Luke shouted, his eyes becoming glassy. Reggie, not being great with yelling, stood off to the side as Bobby joined Alex in front of Luke. <br/>“Luke, we understand that you’re upset, but you need to sleep,” Bobby begged, gently grabbing Luke’s arm. <br/>“No!” Luke screeched, wrenching his arm from Bobby’s grasp, turning his back to them as he began to cry silently. They looked over at Reggie, a silent plea for help, but Reggie just shrugged in response. He was good at making kids laugh, but when they started crying, it was all over for him. <br/>“Lukey,” Alex sighed, not completely sure how to handle the situation. “We just want you to enjoy your playtime and you can’t do that if you’re tired. We don’t appreciate the yelling, we’re just trying to help.”<br/>At this, Luke let out a choked sob and turned around, startling Alex as he dove into his arms. <br/>“‘m sorry ‘m sorry,” he babbled incoherently, face wet with tears and probably some snot. “I didn’t mean to yell.” <br/>Alex squeezed him tightly and the other boys quickly came closer to rub at his back. <br/>“Hey, it’s alright bud. Shhhhhh,” Alex cooed, trying his best to stop the boy’s meltdown and keep it from getting worse. <br/>They continued to comfort him until his crying was reduced to soft sniffling. Alex pulled away from the hug to hold Luke’s face in his hands using his thumbs to wipe away his tears. His cheeks were red and blotchy, and his eyes were red and puffy. He truly looked so young in that moment, Alex just wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap and protect him at all costs. <br/>The blonde pulled him back in so that Luke’s head rested on his shoulder and lowered them both to the floor. Bobby and Reggie sat down next to them, Reggie beginning to hum a soft melody, some sort of lullaby, and Bobby joined in as soon as he caught on. <br/>“I think he’s asleep,” Reggie whispered a few minutes later, looking at Luke’s now relaxed face, his eyes shut and mouth slightly open as he breathed steadily. <br/>“Oh thank god. I have no idea how to deal with crying kids,” Bobby sighed in relief. “Alex must be some sort of toddler whisperer.”  Alex let out a breath he didn’t even know that he was holding and quietly chuckled. <br/>“I’m going to try to move him to the couch,” he replied. Luke might have been a 17 year old boy, but he was a short one, and relatively light, too. Alex, being the giant that he was, hooked one arm beneath Luke’s legs that straddled his lap, and the other around his back, hoisting him up so that they were chest to chest, Luke still sleeping soundly with his head on his shoulder and his legs on either side of Alex’s torso. <br/>“Aww. Hold on, wait there for one second,” Reggie exclaimed quietly, running towards his backpack. <br/>“Yeah, well you better hurry because my arms and back might break if I stand here for too long,” Alex retaliated. Bobby chuckled and rolled his eyes when he saw Reggie return with his Polaroid camera. <br/>“Say cheese!” The bassist instructed happily, holding the camera up to his eye and snapping a photo of the two. As soon as he pressed the button, Alex immediately sat down on the couch to relieve the weight from his arms. He shifted his body so he could carefully lay Luke down without waking him. <br/>They all stood next to each other for a moment, admiring how peaceful he looked, before Reggie ran over to grab the fuzzy blanket they had on the back of the couch, draping it over Luke’s sleeping form. <br/>He certainly got upset easily, but seeing this, Luke sleeping with his posture relaxed and his face calm, was worth the struggle. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well here it is! The chapter we have all been waiting for. Also, fussy Luke might be his most adorable form so get ready for more of that in the future. I got some really good suggestions in the comments, so I’ve started writing some of those into chapters, and I’m always open for more! I appreciate the support you guys have been leaving, it’s all really appreciated.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. A Trip to the Park</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“‘Ok, well, where are we even going to take him?’ the blonde caved, looking exasperatedly between Bobby and Reggie. Luke’s playing didn’t only have a tendency to tire himself out, it tired the others out, too. <br/>‘The park,’ Reggie exclaimed.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This idea was given to me by Honeyjam, so thank you so much for the suggestion!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alex, Reggie, and Bobby were now Luke’s caregivers and the boy couldn’t be happier about it. <br/>It had been one week since the day he first regressed with them, and every day after rehearsals since then, he has taken the time to be little while the guys played with him and took care of him. He loved it, he really did, but he’d been cooped up all week and the boys could tell he was beginning to get antsy. He had only briefly left the studio during that period, getting slightly tired of the same four walls they had all deemed their safe space. <br/>Luke was napping (it was never an easy feat, but with lots of coaxing and cuddles, they were able to tempt him into taking naps after his playtimes), and the guys were talking quietly in the loft so as not to disturb his slumber. <br/>“I know it may not be the <em>easiest</em> thing in the world, but I mean, he’s getting a bit stir-crazy. Don’t you think we should take him out somewhere?” Bobby suggested, casting his eyes back down at the sleeping boy. <br/>“I don’t know, Bobby. That’s a bit risky, isn’t it? What are people going to think when they see a teenager acting like a 3 year old out in public?” Alex replied skeptically, not wanting to put unnecessary attention on Luke. <br/>“Um, do you guys <em>really</em> care what other people think? I wouldn’t say we have the best reputation right about now, anyways,” Reggie chimed in, maybe a bit too enthusiastic. Bobby grimaced, but nodded. <br/>“I mean, he’s not wrong,” he replied with a shrug. Alex sighed and rubbed at his forehead. <br/>“Ok, well, where are we even going to take him?” the blonde caved, looking exasperatedly between Bobby and Reggie. Luke’s playing didn’t only have a tendency to tire himself out, it tired the others out, too. <br/>“The park,” Reggie exclaimed, remembering the small park complete with a playground that was only a 10 minute walk away from the studio. <br/>“Yeah, he’d love that!” Bobby agreed, knowing it would help Luke release all of his pent-up childish energy. “We can go today, after he wakes up. It’ll be kinda late, we’ll have the place to ourselves.”<br/>Alex couldn’t deny that logic, and he also couldn’t deny Luke a trip to the park. They all agreed that he needed to get out of studio, at least for an evening. <br/>“Alright, alright,” Alex sighed. He wasn’t going to say no, the idea was one of the best they had come up with in a while. <br/>It wasn’t long before their idle conversation was interrupted by movement in the studio below them, the gentle creaking of the couch followed by a sleepy whine. <br/>Alex quickly stood up and climbed down the ladder, the other guys following close behind. He made his way over to the couch where Luke was now sitting up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Upon seeing Alex in front of him, he reached his hands out towards the other boy with another quiet whine. Alex just smiled and complied, sitting down on the couch before pulling Luke into his lap. The little curled up into a ball, gripping onto Alex’s shirt as he buried his face into his neck. Reggie and Bobby smiled at the sight as they climbed down from the loft. <br/>One thing they discovered about Luke’s headspace is that the age he regressed to could vary, but after waking up, he was always a lot younger than he was when he was wide awake and skipping around the room. <br/>“Hey, have a good nap buddy?” Bobby asked as he walked over, pushing some of the hair out of Luke’s face. Luke nodded slowly, eyes still only half open. Reggie came over too and knelt next to the couch, rubbing his arm up and down Luke’s back. <br/>“We have a surprise for you,” Reggie told him with a smile, causing Luke to straighten up a bit, removing his head from the crook of Alex’s neck. <br/>“S’prise?” He asked, eyes wide. Reggie grinned and nodded enthusiastically, trying his best to excite the boy. If there was anything Reggie was good at, it was making Luke excited. He was always the one to convince Luke to take his naps, or get him to eat actual food for lunch instead of the usual junk that was usually all they could afford. <br/>“Yeah! A surprise! But you gotta get up and get dressed, we have to leave the studio,” Reggie encouraged. At this, Luke really perked up, looking up at Alex for the blonde’s nod of approval before jumping off his lap and over to where his clothes were folded up on the coffee table. <br/>During his nap times, Luke refused to sleep unless he was wearing the comfiest clothes possible, which was usually a hoodie (one of Alex’s, the others didn’t own sweatshirts) and a pair of sweatpants (also usually Alex’s, or sometimes Bobby’s, because why own sweatpants when skinny jeans exist, amirite?). He brought the clothes over to the couch so that he could have help getting dressed. They had tried to let him do it on his own the first time, but he’d put his jeans on backwards gotten tangled in his shirt almost immediately. <br/>“Can you guys get him dressed? I need to freshen up real quick,” Alex asked, pointing to the bathroom at the back of the studio. Bobby and Reggie nodded and Alex disappeared as Luke bounced on his toes, clearly ready to see what the surprise was. <br/>Dressing Luke was only a little bit of a struggle. He complied, raising his arms so Reggie could tug off his sweatshirt and holding still so Bobby could tie his sneakers. He was dressed and smiling by the time Alex emerged. <br/>“You ready to go?” Alex asked, trying to mimic Luke’s excitement. The little nodded frantically, beaming with anticipation. <br/>They all left the studio and began the short walk to the park, Luke chattering on about random things and taking turns holding each of their hands as he bounded down the sidewalk. <br/>“Alright, we’re almost there,” Reggie exclaimed as they rounded the corner, Luke’s hand currently in his own. As the rest of the street came into view, so did the playground that they  were headed towards. Luke let out a happy little squeal and released Reggie’s hand, running over and immediately jumping on the swing set. <br/>“Come push me!” He called, kicking his legs in an unsuccessful attempt to make himself move. Alex, Reggie, and Bobby all exchanged a satisfied smile, glad that Luke was so happy to be at the playground, before jogging over to the swings as well. <br/>Just as they had hoped, the playground was completely empty, no children being outside at this time of the evening. <br/>Alex pushed Luke on his swing, making sure he didn’t go too high and reveling in his delighted giggles. Reggie, meanwhile, sat down on the swing next to them and forced Bobby to push him. He complied with little more than a roll of his eyes. <br/>They played on the swings for a little while, Reggie and Luke competing to see who could go the highest, before Luke insisted that they head over to the slide. He climbed up the play structure, sitting down at the top of the tall, metal slide. Before sliding down, he reached his hand out over the side for Reggie to grab onto. The other two waited on the bottom as he slid down, Reggie’s hand grasped tightly in his own, giggling all the way. When he reached the bottom, he stood up and Bobby lifted him up, spinning him in a circle. <br/>“Wow, buddy! That’s a tall slide, you’re so brave,” he exclaimed, rustling his hair after he put him back down. <br/>“Again!” Luke cheered, and the others couldn’t say no. <br/>By the time it was dark out, Luke was clearly exhausted, and the the other three were pretty tired out too. <br/>“Ready to go back, Lukey?” Alex asked the boy who was currently sitting on a bench at the edge of the playground. For a second, he looked like he was about to resist, but he ended up nodding reluctantly in defeat. “Alright. Want me to give you a piggyback?” At this, Luke’s nod was much more enthusiastic, barely hesitating to jump up on Alex’s back as Bobby and Reggie chuckled quietly. <br/>Luke practically fell asleep with his head laying on Alex’s shoulder as the other three talked happily about random topics to fill up the silence of the night. They were definitely doing this again soon. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter definitely isn’t my favorite and it’s also pretty short, but we get more little Luke and that’s what really matters, right?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Pacifier Problem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“‘What if we get him a pacifier?’ Reggie asks suddenly. The other two paused their argument to stare at him, about to disagree with the idea, until they actually took a second to think about it.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This amazing suggestion was made by Khat58 so thank you for this idea that I actually loved writing. Here I present to you, an overly long chapter about Luke’s mouth.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started with Luke biting his nails. It was a habit of his that he had possessed for as long he could remember. His nails were always bitten down to the skin, and half the time that his fingers were in his mouth, he hardly noticed that he was doing it. <br/>
It didn’t seem like much of an issue, before he started regressing at least. Plenty of teenagers, and even adults, had a bad habit of biting their nails. But once he did start regressing, it only got worse. <br/>
It slowly began migrating to other objects, not just his fingers. When he was watching movies with the boys, enthralled by the action on the small screen, his necklace would somehow find his way into his mouth. And when he was writing lyrics in his notebook, he’d find himself absently chewing on the eraser end of his pencil. <br/>
The other guys didn’t pay much attention to it, or at least, not until they found out about his regression. He was always fidgety and hyper, and biting at his nails or the ends of pencils just seemed like a part of it. But when he was in his headspace, his oral fixation really became apparent. <br/>
It had been almost a month now since they guys started caring for Luke in his headspace, and things were getting a bit out of hand. <br/>
“Hey Luke? You sure you wanna be chewing on that, buddy?” Alex asked. The four of them were currently sitting together on their ratty couch having a movie marathon (<em>not</em> Star Wars), and it wasn’t long before Alex noticed the end of Luke’s sleeve in his mouth as he absentmindedly chewed on the fabric. If it was a couple weeks ago, Luke would have flushed and quickly removed his sleeve from his mouth, pretending it never happened. This time, though, Luke just looked at him and gave him a small glare, turning back to the movie and curling up into an even tighter ball. Alex met eyes with Bobby across the couch and they both frowned, realizing that the “Luke sticks way too many things in his mouth” issue was getting worse. Reggie, of course, didn’t notice a thing, still caught up in the movie. <br/>
By the end of the film, Luke was asleep and the entire end of his sleeve was disgustingly damp with spit. <br/>
“I have a feeling we need to talk about...this,” Bobby stated, gesturing at Luke’s shirt in his mouth. <br/>
“That’s a bit gross. Why does he do that, exactly?” Reggie asked, finally noticing that something was wrong. Alex rolled his eyes. <br/>
“Because he’s, like, three right now, dumbass,” Bobby replied, mildly frustrated by Reggie’s obliviousness. <br/>
“Hey! Words hurt.”<br/>
“Oh my god, can you two shut up? We are trying to problem solve here,” Alex interrupted, massaging his temples. <br/>
“Alright. Well as much as I hate to say it, maybe we just need to be more strict with him about it now,” Bobby replied with a frown, knowing how much Alex hated giving timeouts. “We don’t want him getting sick or something, do we?” Predictably, the blonde looked rather put off by the suggestion, staring down at Luke’s sleeping form. <br/>
“I mean, he’s probably right,” Reggie told Alex with a helpless shrug. “I know you pride yourself in being big Mr. Softie, but don’t you think he just won’t listen otherwise?” <br/>
There were a few moments of contemplation before Alex spoke up again. <br/>
“Ok, fine. We’ll be a bit more strict about it. But if he gets upset again, I refuse to be the one he’s pissed at,” he conceded, looking between the other two who didn’t look much happier about the situation than he did. <br/>
It wasn’t long before their plan took action. Only a few hours, actually. <br/>
Luke had just woken up and they were doing their usual post-naptime ritual: cuddling on the couch while Luke woke himself up all the way. Normally at this time, when Luke would go to put his sleeve, necklace, or fingers in his mouth, the boys would exchange exasperated looks but leave it alone. This time, however, Alex spoke up. <br/>
“Luke, hon, finger out of the mouth.” <br/>
Luke just whined and shook his head angrily. “Luke,” the blonde said again, sternly. When the boy still didn’t reply, Alex looked helplessly up at the other two. He knew he wasn’t great at discipline. <br/>
“I’m going to count to three,” Bobby said, taking over for Alex. Luke pretended he didn’t hear him. <br/>
“One...”<br/>
The lead singer gave them all a small, unintimidating glare. <br/>
“...two...”<br/>
He curled in on himself further, turning to face away from the three guys. <br/>
“...three.”<br/>
Luke’s thumb didn’t budge from between his lips. <br/>
“Alright, time out,” Bobby announced, standing up and grabbing Luke’s arm, gently but firmly. Luke whined again, louder this time, but stood up from the couch and followed Bobby as he lead him towards the corner of the room. Alex and Reggie exchanged a look of shock. They had no idea he had this in him. Reggie was mildly intimidated, and Alex, though he would never admit it, was definitely into to this new side of the guitarist. <br/>
Luke’s eyes were watery as he stood in the corner of the room, thumb still planted firmly in his mouth. Bobby crouched down a bit so he was face to face with Luke. <br/>
“Listen, buddy. We’re not doing this to be mean. Your hands have got so many germs on them, putting them in your mouth could get you sick. So you’re gonna stand here, and when you’re ready to take your thumb out, Alex, Reggie, and I will be on the couch,” he sad, rubbing his shoulder before heading back to the couch where the others were trying to his their shock. <br/>
“Wow. I did not know you had that in you,” Alex admitted. <br/>
“Honestly. When did you become such a dad?” Reggie asked, eyes wide. Bobby wacked him in the shoulder. <br/>
“Neither of you were gonna do it, and someone had to,” he replied matter-of-factly. They all looked over at Luke who was still in the corner, but now he was curled back up into a ball with silent tears dripping down his cheeks. Alex looked pleadingly at Bobby. <br/>
“We can’t just leave him like that! He’s so upset, we’re not just going to-“<br/>
“Relax,” Bobby cut off Alex’s anxious rambling. “He won’t stay over there very long. He’s just being stubborn.”<br/>
“But it’s clearly distressing him! I know the thumb sucking is unsanitary but it obviously provides him with some sort of comfort.”<br/>
“You know how easily he gets sick as it is! And he literally touches everything. It’s not like we can take him to the doctor if it gets bad.”<br/>
“What if we get him a pacifier?” Reggie asks suddenly. The other two paused their argument to stare at him, about to disagree with the idea, until they actually took a second to think about it. Luke would get his way, he’d have something to lazily suck on when he was playing with toys or watching tv. But as long as they kept it clean, they wouldn’t have to worry about him getting sick. <br/>
“You know, that’s actually not a half bad idea,” Bobby confessed. <br/>
“Yeah, I actually agree,” Alex said, a look of amazement on his face. <br/>
“Where are we gonna find one, though?” Bobby asked, furrowing his brow. <br/>
“I mean, we could check the dollar store?” Reggie suggested. <br/>
While Bobby and Alex continued to talk about when and where they were going to go shopping, Reggie made his way over to the corner where Luke was still sat, tear tracks drying on his face, eyes red and puffy. <br/>
“Hey, Luke? You know we love you, right?” Reggie asked gently, kneeling down in front of him. Luke nodded slowly. “Then you know we only want what’s best for you. I promise we will come up with a compromise, but for now, how about we go wash our hands and then sit down on the couch.” <br/>
Luke hesitated, wanting nothing more then to go cuddle on the couch, but also not wanting to abandon the comfort of his thumb in his mouth. Eventually he agreed, defeatedly removing his finger from between his lips. Reggie smiled at him proudly, ruffling his hair. “Good job, buddy! Let’s go wash those hands now, yeah?” <br/>
Alex and Bobby watched on in amazement, surprised to see how easily Luke listened to what Reggie had to say. <br/>
“I guess everybody is just surprising me today, huh?” Alex blurted out, shaking his head slowly.</p>
<p>It was the next day and Alex volunteered to stay back and watch Luke while Bobby and Reggie went to the store. Bobby had 10 dollars in his pocket, his saved allowance money, and they had ended up deciding that the dollar store was a good first place to check. <br/>
Upon getting there, they had to wander the isles for a few minutes before actually coming across what they were looking for. <br/>
“Ha ha! See, they <em>do</em> have baby stuff here,” Reggie exclaimed, scanning the shelves for pacifiers. <br/>
“Yeah, yeah. Find any pacifiers though?” Bobby asked, looking for said item as well. <br/>
“Uh...here!” Reggie announced, grabbing a package of pacifiers from the shelf and holding them out to Bobby, a smug smirk on his face. The package came with 3, a pink one, a blue one, and a green one. “They’re the biggest ones they have, so hopefully they’ll work.”<br/>
“Welp, good job man. Can’t say I would have thought of this myself, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.” Reggie smiled proudly, beckoning eagerly for them to go pay so they could give the pacifiers to Luke. “Hold on, I wanna grab one more thing first.”<br/>
Bobby felt a bit awkward paying for the items at first, but Reggie reminded him that, “babies don’t just waltz in here and buy this stuff for themselves.” <br/>
Reggie skipped down the sidewalk as they made their way back to the studio, Bobby holding the thin plastic bag containing their items. <br/>
When they made it back, Alex was on the floor with Luke in his lap as the blonde held a book in front of them, reading through the story out loud. Luke was leaning back into Alex’s chest, teddy bear hugged to his own. When Luke had regressed in the studio that day as soon as they had finished practice, it wasn’t hard to tell that he had regressed pretty far. He was quiet, cuddly, and a bit fussy, a clear contrast to his bouncy, talkative, and playful self. The boys liked taking care of him at any age, though. <br/>
They both looked up and smiled when Reggie and Bobby entered. <br/>
“Hey guys! Luke, we’ve got something for you,” Reggie exclaimed, gesturing to the bag in Bobby’s hand. Luke look surprised, eyeing the bag then looking back up at Bobby. <br/>
“C’mon, let’s go see what they got you, yeah?” Alex suggested, helping the boy off his lap and gesturing the guys over. <br/>
Bobby came over and sat down in front of him, Reggie taking the spot next to Bobby. <br/>
“We want you to know that we understand how hard it is when we ask you to take stuff out of your mouth. But we just want you to be healthy and happy. So, we went to the store and we got you these,” the rhythm guitarist explained, pulling the package of pacifiers out of the bag. Luke looked at them skeptically, then looked up at Bobby, making no move to grab the package. Bobby sighed and began to open it up himself. <br/>
“I know it’s something new that you aren’t used to, but will you please just try using one for us?” Alex asked, almost pleading. Bobby held up the blue pacifier, twirling it around a bit. <br/>
“Come on, I know that blue is your favorite color,” he beckoned. Luke gave one more unsure look at the object before hesitantly opening his mouth. Bobby grinned widely, placing the blue pacifier between his lips. They all silently held their breaths, releasing them as they saw Luke visibly relax at the soft plastic in his mouth. <br/>
It was certainly a sight: Luke all curled up on the ground with his teddy, the piece of blue plastic in his mouth protruding from between his lips.<br/>
“We got you something else too! For being so good,” Reggie explained, reaching back into the plastic bag. He pulled out a stuffed rabbit this time, about the same size as Luke’s teddy with the softest blue fur and two long floppy ears. <br/>
Luke’s eyes widened and he immediately reached out, grabbing the rabbit with his free hand while the other continued to cuddle his teddy. He held them both to his chest now, a small smile lifting his cheeks. <br/>
“What do we say to Bobby and Reggie for getting this stuff for you?” Alex asked him, running his fingers through the other boys messy hair.<br/>
“‘ank ‘ou,” he slurred out, the pacifier restricting his speech. It was adorable, though, and they all could admit that.</p>
<p>For the rest of the day, Luke happily kept it in. It bobbed gently in his mouth as he crawled around on the floor with his toy cars, and whenever he tried to speak it sounded like utter gibberish. He looked happy, though. Happier than he had been all week, and that was enough to make Reggie smirk in triumph. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you guys enjoyed this one! It definitely ended up being longer than anticipated, but like, I’m not complaining.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A Gig to Remember</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Guys? Don’t mean to freak you out or anything, but it’s nearly five. Shouldn’t we get going soon?”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is maybe a tad boring but I was kinda short on ideas when I started it lmao</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Guys? Don’t mean to freak you out or anything, but it’s nearly five. Shouldn’t we get going soon?” Reggie asked, frowning at his wristwatch. Alex and Bobby, who were sitting in the corner with Luke as he drew some unintelligible image with a few different colored crayons, looked at him with panic written in their faces.<br/>“Five? Shit, we have to be at sound check in, like, half an hour,” Bobby exclaimed, shooting up from the ground. He began heading for their instruments to gather them up as Reggie scolded him for swearing in front of Luke, Alex still blinking in shock at how fast the time went by that afternoon. Luke, however, was still completely unfazed, tongue poking out the corner of his mouth as he scribbled intently at his paper. <br/>Alex shook his head before getting up, too, Luke only then noticing the commotion in the studio. <br/>“Can you guys get my drum set loaded up while I get Luke ready?” Alex asked, grabbing Luke’s “big” clothes from the coffee table. <br/>“Yeah, sure. Just be quick,” Bobby replied, zipping his guitar into its case as Reggie did the same with his bass.<br/>“If you break anything though, I swear I’ll-“<br/>“Murder us in the night with plastic cutlery,” Bobby and Reggie finished simultaneously with an eye roll. “We know.”<br/>Alex, taken aback, put his hands up in surrender before turning back to the task at hand: encouraging Luke out of his headspace. <br/>It was everyone’s least favorite job. There was nothing worse than seeing the look on little Luke’s face as you told him he had to be big again. The fact that they had a gig that night to look forward to, though, did help. <br/>“I gotta be big now?” Luke asked with pout, drawing now abandoned on the floor. <br/>“Yeah, hon. I’m sorry. We’re all sleeping here tonight, though, so you can be little later. Is that alright?” Alex offered, hoping the compromise would make the process easier. Luke looked as if he was contemplating the offer for a second, before nodding and grabbing the clothes that were laid out in front of him. <br/>“Help?” He asked Alex, holding up his sleeveless t-shirt in front of him. Alex smiled and nodded, going over to assist the boy.<br/>The hectic movement in the studio didn’t die down, but within the next ten minutes, Luke was dressed and out of his headspace (thanks to some breathing exercises he did with Alex to help him focus), and Luke and Reggie were loading up the last of their equipment into their battered van. <br/>They’d just gotten the van the previous week at a massive discount due to how...<em>used</em> it was, but with some TLC and a whole lot of air freshener, they’d managed to get it functioning well enough and clean enough for their admittedly low standards. <br/>On the twenty minute car ride to the restaurant/bar they were playing, the guys sang obnoxiously to the radio and chatted about things they knew would pull Luke all the way out of his headspace, like the upcoming gig and the new songs they were going to be performing. <br/>They had managed to get there just on time, and after a great soundcheck, they all found themselves sitting around a table, sipping on sodas and riding the adrenaline rush they always got before performing. Luke, however, was acting a bit off. <br/>None of them really took note of it at first, too enveloped in their excited chatter to see his downcast eyes and the way he was chewing incessantly at the end of his straw. Alex did eventually notice that something was off, though, and gently nudged the boy with his shoulder. The guitarist looked up at him with wide eyes as Bobby and Reggie continued to converse enthusiastically. <br/>“What’s up, man?” he asked with tilt of his head. “Is everything alright?”<br/>Luke shrugged, looking back at his glass and fidgeting with the straw. This behavior wasn’t common for big Luke, but it also wasn’t new. It wasn’t long before Alex was able to figure out exactly what was going on. “Are you having trouble staying big?” <br/>Luke nodded at this, not even bothering to look up this time. <br/>“Hey guys?” Alex announced, getting Reggie and Bobby’s attention. “Luke and I will be right back.” <br/>They nodded, quickly understanding that something was up and letting Alex work his magic. The drummer stood up and held his hand out for a confused Luke. They walked over to the small stage positioned at the back of the restaurant where the guys all had their instruments laid out for later. Alex hopped up and grabbed the acoustic that they brought for Luke to play during some of their slower songs. He hopped down and sat on the edge of the stage, patting the spot next to him for Luke to sit down, too. He then handed over the guitar to Luke, who was still very confused by Alex’s plan. <br/>“Play me something you’ve been working on,” Alex prompted. He knew that nothing grounded Luke like his music, and the restaurant was filled with loud conversation so no one would hear them anyways. It was the perfect solution to keep Luke big until their show. Luke smiled, slinging the strap over his shoulder and immediately beginning to fingerpick a melody. <br/>Luke continued to play for Alex until it was time for them to go onstage. He put his guitar down, thanking the blonde with a smile as they all got in their positions. <br/>They played through their set, the music fed by all of their energy and enthusiasm that had been building throughout the night. By the time their set was over, they were all damp with sweat, smiles on their flushed faces as the sun was setting outside. <br/>“Thank you, we’re Sunset Curve! Tell your friends!” Reggie announced into his mic before they all briefly bowed and headed off stage. <br/>“Man, that was awesome! We better be playing more gigs now that we’ve got a van,” Bobby exclaimed, bumping shoulders with Reggie before fist bumping Luke and Alex. <br/>“Yeah, we did kinda kill it up there,” Alex admitted, throwing an arm around Luke’s shoulders. The brunette smiled up at him and Alex ruffled his hair. <br/>Normally after a gig, they’d stay for a little while and chat with people, or eat the free meal that was often offered to them by the staff of whatever restaurant they were playing at. This time, though, Alex could tell Luke wasn’t going to hold off for very long. The boy was fidgety and awfully quiet, gnawing at his lower lip. <br/>“What do you guys say we get out of here and go have a movie night?” Alex suggested, watching Luke’s face light up. <br/>“Yeah, that sounds cool,” Reggie replied, setting down his water and going to grab his bass from where it leaned against the amp. “Want me to pack up your-“<br/>“No! I’ll do it this time,” Alex interrupted. He let the guys touch his drums once today, and that was enough anxiety for a lifetime. “If you could get Luke settled in the van, though, that’d be great.”<br/>Reggie looked confused for a second before realization washed over his face. That was clearly Alex’s code for ‘Luke is regressing and we need to get him out of here before something bad happens’. It was understandable, really. One wrong move and Luke could be tantrum-ing in the middle of the restaurant. <br/>“Alright, c’mon Luke,” he exclaimed, grabbing the guitarist’s hand and leading him out. Luke was clearly growing littler by the second, his walking turning into enthusiastic skipping and the post-performance adrenaline appearing as childish glee. <br/>“We bring Teddy?” Luke asked, legs kicking as Reggie buckled him into his seat in the van. <br/>“Let me check,” Reggie replied, opening the door to the passenger seat of the van where Alex’s backpack laid on the floor. Alex always came prepared, and knowing that Luke was struggling to stay big, would have likely brought some of his little supplies for after the show. Sure enough, at the top of Alex’s bag was Luke’s teddy, his pacifier (the green one), and a single apple juice box. He smiled as he picked up the items, shutting the door and heading back to where Luke sat. <br/>The little beamed upon seeing his teddy, reaching out for it and giving it a big squeeze when Reggie handed it over. <br/>“You want paci? Or juice?” Reggie asked, holding each of them up for Luke to choose. <br/>“Juice!” The boy exclaimed happily. Reggie poked the straw into the top and handed it over with a light warning not to spill, tucking the pacifier into his pocket for later. By now, Alex and Bobby were headed out of the building with their first load of stuff. <br/>A couple more trips in and out as Luke waited impatiently in the backseat and they were finished, all piling into the van and turning the radio back on, much quieter this time. <br/>As Alex drove, he couldn’t help but occasionally peer into the rear view mirror to smile at Luke’s game of patty cake with Reggie. <br/>“Paci?” Luke asked after finishing his juice box. Reggie quickly dug around in his pocket before pulling it out, making sure it was clean, and popping it into Luke’s awaiting mouth. “‘anks,” he said around the pacifier. Reggie responded by gently squeezing his shoulder and taking the empty juice box from his hand. Alex watched the whole exchange through the mirror with a smile. <br/>They got back to the studio and unloaded their instruments for the final time that day. They were all pretty tired and were ready to relax and watch a movie, but not before washing up from their gig. <br/>“Icky,” Luke mumbled as they all rummaged for night clothes in the various bags they had scattered around the studio. Alex was confused for a moment, but quickly realized that he was likely referring to the sweat that dried on his skin, leaving him feeling sticky and gross. They all could relate, sweating buckets was probably the least pleasant part of playing gigs. <br/>Ten minutes later, Luke found himself in the bathtub, playing with the rubber ducky Bobby had bought for him a couple of weeks ago, while Alex soaped up his hair. The blonde was trying his hardest not get wet, but with Luke’s toddler-like splashing, it proved to be quite the difficult task. <br/>Getting Luke out of the bath even more challenging, the little protesting that he could stay and play in the water. Alex eventually won the argument, though, convincing Luke that there’d be plenty of time to play later. <br/>The all took turns in the shower before getting changed settling into the couch for a movie. Before the film even finished, they were all asleep on each other’s shoulders. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know it’s definitely rushed at the end but I wanted to get it finished and posted because I haven’t posted in a while. I also wanted to ask for your guys’ input about how this story will progress. Firstly, I was thinking about having them eat the street dogs and die, and possibly including Bobby so that I don’t have to kick him out of the story. I also may just stay in pre-hotdog era for now, though. I wanna know what you guys think. And secondly, should I experiment with having Luke call the guys something other than their names when he’s in headspace? Idk, I’m not sure if that’s weird or not. Anyways, sorry about this long note, just wanted to ask your opinions. As always, thank you so much for reading and for your kind words in the comments, I really really appreciate all the support!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Back to School</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“He shouldn’t have to go back to school, he didn’t even live with his parents anymore. But it’s not like he wasn’t enrolled, and the guys would do everything in their power to force him to go.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter honestly might be my new favorite. I don’t know why, but something about Alex going all dad mode and comforting a fussy Luke is just *chef kiss*. Also, the lyrics written here for Long Weekend were made up by yours truly, so I’m sorry if they’re crappy. Please do enjoy the chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To say Luke was pissed would be an understatement.  </p><p>He shouldn’t have to go back to school, he didn’t even live with his parents anymore. But it’s not like he wasn’t enrolled, and the guys would do everything in their power to force him to go. </p><p>That’s how he found himself doing a half-assed job at packing his backpack at 7am on a Monday, deep, blueish circles beneath his eyes from a lack of sleep the previous night. While regressing has overall helped him build much better sleep habits, the smallest bit of stress seemed to set off countless nightmares - that is, when he could even get to sleep. </p><p>The last thing he wanted to be doing after a crappy night’s sleep was marching himself face first into hell, but hey, life makes you do weird things. Plus, the guys were set to pick him up from the studio in a few minutes, and he didn’t have the heart to disappoint them. </p><p>Sure enough, just as he was stuffing his songbook into the front pouch of his worn and mildly torn up backpack, he heard the sound of muffled voices approach the front doors of the studio. When they swung open, the guys were all standing there with forced smiles on their faces, their own knapsacks swung over their shoulders. Alex even looked prepared to forcefully drag him out of the studio if need be. But once they all saw Luke’s tired and disheveled state, their faces dropped. </p><p>“Luke? How much sleep did you get last night?” Reggie asked pointedly, a frown prominent on his face. </p><p>“Yeah. I mean, you look...not great,” Bobby stated, much more concerned than judgmental. </p><p>“Wow. Thanks guys, really appreciated,” he replied sarcastically, swinging his bag over his shoulder and pushing his way past them, out of the studio. </p><p>“Wait, hold on,” Alex ordered, making Luke stop in his place and turn around. The brunette seemed to be trying his hardest to look angry, but since he was so exhausted, he much more closely resembled a kicked puppy. “I know we were very adamant about you coming to school, but if it’s really taking that big of a toll on your mental health...” Alex started, watching Luke shift back and forth on his feet. </p><p>“What else am I supposed to do? Sit around here all day by myself?” He snapped, grinding the toe of his shoe into the concrete of the driveway. Alex sighed, realizing Luke was going to be difficult no matter what. </p><p>“How about we all go today, and if it’s too much for you, then we’ll talk about what happens next,” Bobby suggested, once again the voice of reason in a near-meltdown situation. </p><p>Luke bit down on the inside of his cheek and nodded, still staring the ground as though it held the answers to all the problems he kept encountering. Why did life have to be so goddamn difficult? </p><p>“Luke, we care about you and want what’s best for you, alright?” Alex comforted. </p><p>“Yeah, even when school may seem totally useless for the future. Like seriously, last year, Mrs. Meyers wouldn’t ever shut up about her ex-husband when she was supposed to be teaching us about logarithms. Let’s just say, I still have no idea what a logarithm is,” Reggie admitted, eliciting a small giggle from Luke that made the rest of them grin. </p><p>Just like that, it was settled; Luke would still be going to school with the rest of them. He wasn’t excited about it, but he knew nothing could be <em>that</em> bad if he had the boys by his side...right?</p><p>Luke had no idea how he could have forgotten how truly awful school was.  </p><p>The second he stepped inside the school, he was overwhelmed by the bustling of people in every corner of the building, and his nose was infiltrated with the unwelcome scent of sweat and body spray. He was seconds away from stepping back outside - forgetting this ever happened - until he felt Alex squeeze his hand, firm but gentle, enough to let him know that the drummer was right there next to him and wouldn’t be leaving his side any time soon. So Luke took a deep breath and the four of them made their way further inside. </p><p>While they didn’t have all of their classes together, Luke had at least one of the guys in each of his classes, which he was eternally grateful for. He’d made it through calculus with Reggie and Alex, physics and English with Bobby, history with Reggie, and music with all three of them. It wasn’t until his last class of the day, though (PE with Alex), that things started to get bad. </p><p>His anxiety had been building all day. The reassurances and praise he got from the guys between classes had certainly helped, but it wasn’t enough. All he wanted to do was run back to the studio and bury himself beneath a fuzzy blanket with his teddy and his pacifier and his caregivers there to give him lots of love and cuddles...His coping mechanism was <em>regressing</em>. He couldn’t regress at school, and he had no idea how he was supposed to stay big all day every day after being so free with his regression over the summer. </p><p>He entered the gym glued to Alex’s side, looking nervously around the room. </p><p><em>You just have to make it through one more class </em>he repeated in his head like a mantra. Maybe if he convinced himself everything would be fine, it would end up becoming reality. </p><p>His theory was proven untrue, though, almost as soon as class started. </p><p>They were running laps around the gym, Luke still remaining right by Alex’s side, the taller boy frowning at the knowledge that something was up with Luke. The little, meanwhile, could tell that with all his emotions building throughout the day, the smallest thing would set off a full blown meltdown. </p><p>That “smallest thing” ended up being Luke’s shoelace coming untied on his second lap. He hadn’t noticed, or at least, not until it was too late. One second, he was jogging unenthusiastically across the gym, and the next, his face was headed directly towards the floor. </p><p>It felt as though it was happening in slow motion, the ground growing closer and closer, his arms flailing desperately in an attempt to save his nose, and then there was a painful tug on his arm and it all stopped. Alex had seen him trip, and before it was too late, managed to grab Luke’s bicep before his face had an up close and personal meeting with the floor. </p><p>Alex quickly righted the brunette, briefly checking him over for injuries as students continued to run past them, uncaring and oblivious. </p><p>“Are you alright? Did you hurt anything? God, you need to be more careful. You could have broken your-“ Alex looked at Luke’s face and paused, noticing his facial expression. His eyes were wide and glassy and his lips were in a pout. He looked near tears, and it didn’t take more than a second for Alex to realize, <em>shit, he’s regressing, isn’t he?</em> </p><p>“Luke?” He asked again gently, trying his hardest not to panic. </p><p>That’s when Luke broke. </p><p>Tears began streaming down his face as he choked on a sob and closed the distance between himself and Alex, burying his face into the other boy’s hoodie while grabbing at the fabric for dear life. Alex’s eyes widened, arms automatically wrapping around the boy who’s face was in his chest. </p><p>“Oh god. Okay, um...” he looked around frantically and saw their PE teacher conversing with a student on the other side of the gym. This was their chance to escape. Who cares if they got marked absent?</p><p>He released Luke from his grip and wrapped his hand around his arm instead, quickly dragging the crying boy out the back door of the gym, the one closest to the restrooms. He dragged Luke along behind him towards one of the handicap restrooms, the little’s body wracking with sobs as he stumbled along behind Alex. The drummer would feel bad if it weren’t for the fact that he was currently preventing Luke from melting down in front of a whole class of unforgiving high schoolers, something he’d never be able to recover from. </p><p>He thanked his lucky stars when the door to the bathroom was unlocked and swung right open, allowing him to push Luke inside and quickly follow, shutting and locking the door behind him before immediately pulling Luke closer to him once more. </p><p>“Hey, hey. Shhhhhh baby. What’s the matter?” Alex asked, one arm wrapped around Luke’s shaking form, the other soothingly combing through his hair. The boy was too hysterical to reply, though. Any words that left his mouth blended with his sobs to create a blubbering mess of gibberish that succeeded in nothing but dampening Alex’s hoodie with tears. </p><p>Alex wasn’t new to Luke’s meltdowns, but every time the boy ended up crying in his arms, his stomach filled with guilt despite knowing he didn’t do anything to cause it.</p><p>He knew the best way to get Luke to calm down was with cuddles, gently rocking him back and forth while whispering soft words and humming lullabies in his ear. Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly in the business of cuddling on the dirty bathroom floor, so he opted for saying a prayer for his arms and lifting Luke up, letting the boy koala-bear around his body. </p><p>“It’s gonna be ok, sunshine. I promise,” he whispered, shifting his weight from foot to foot in an effort to rock Luke back and forth in a comforting manner. </p><p>He did eventually begin to calm down, sobs devolving into sniffles and deep, gulpy breaths of air. </p><p>“Are you ready to tell me what happened, hon?” Alex asked softly, continuing the comforting rhythm of rocking Luke in his arms. There was a moment of silence before the boy spoke up. </p><p>“Don’ wanna be big,” Luke croaked, squeezing Alex even tighter. “Want Teddy.”</p><p>Alex could feel himself practically melting at the sound of Luke’s distraught voice. He didn’t realize how hard it was for him to stay big all day.</p><p>“Hey, I’m proud of you baby. You made it all day, ok? You can be as little now as you want. And as soon as we get back to the studio, you can have teddy,” Alex reassured. </p><p>Luke’s face contorted a bit as his eyes welled up with tears once again. </p><p>“Want Teddy <em>now</em>,” he whined. Alex cringed, realizing that this wasn’t going to be as easy as he originally thought. </p><p>“Honey, Teddy is at the studio. I promise that once we’re back, you can have him, ok?” </p><p>Luke’s hands gripped the fabric of Alex’s hoodie even tighter as the tears returned. This time, though, he wasn’t just sobbing, he was positively <em>wailing</em>. </p><p>Alex was running out of ideas at this point. He was extraordinarily grateful that there weren’t any classrooms nearby, otherwise someone ought to think there was a murder occurring in the bathroom. </p><p>The drummer sunk down onto the floor, not even caring about the hygiene of it all at this point. He settled Luke into his lap and cradled his head into his neck. Not knowing what else to do, he began to sing.</p><p>
  <em>We’re feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders </em> </p><p>
  <em>And the two of us will just keep on getting older</em>
</p><p>The lyrics of one of their new songs, Long Weekend, echoed through the cramped bathroom. Alex didn’t consider himself to be a particularly great singer (he underestimated himself way too much, the guys would always tell him), but he knew that nothing calmed Luke down like a soft voice. Usually, Reggie would be the one singing to him, sometimes Bobby, but rarely Alex. He didn’t like singing without the other guys.</p><p>
  <em>So let’s take a break, let’s take a breath</em> </p><p>
  <em>‘Cause no one has to know we left</em>
</p><p>Luke’s wailing was beginning to quiet down. He hiccuped, nuzzling his face into Alex’s chest and inhaling the sweet scent of his laundry detergent.</p><p>
  <em>The both of us, the birds the trees</em> </p><p>
  <em>Just take a long weekend with me</em>
</p><p>Luke’s crying ceased as he was soothed by Alex’s warm voice as the lyrics they all wrote untangled the ball of emotions that was gathered up in the pit of his stomach. His breathing slowed and he could feel his eyes beginning to droop as everything that had weighed on him throughout the day was lifted off his shoulders. </p><p>Alex threw his head back against the wall in relief. He had no idea what he would’ve done had Luke decided not to calm down. But upon realizing that Luke was now asleep in his lap, he knew that he now encountered yet another issue. </p><p>How was he supposed to get Luke back to the studio? </p><p>He couldn’t just bail now. Reggie and Bobby would be worried to death, and he had no way of contacting them. But if he waited until school was dismissed, there would be a flood of students who would <em>see</em>, and none of them wanted that to happen. </p><p>He looked at his watch and grimaced. School would be let out in less than ten minutes. </p><p>After some thinking, he decided that Reggie and Bobby would most likely have to walk past the bathroom that he was situated in to come pick them up from the gym, their agreed upon meeting point. He guessed that he could probably get their attention, and the four of them could wait it out until the school grounds were empty and they could safely bring Luke back. </p><p>Having decided on a plan, he looked back down at Luke. Since the boy’s face was still buried in the fabric of his sweatshirt, he couldn’t see him very well, but from what he could tell, he looked pretty bad. His eyes were incredibly puffy and the dried tear tracks on his face were mixed with wet ones. His cheeks were blotchy and his nose was bright pink, and Alex’s hoodie was pretty damp. But he honestly couldn’t care less, not when his boy was finally content and asleep. </p><p>The bell soon rang, muffled by the fact they were in the bathroom, and Alex propped the door open the smallest bit, just so he could see when Reggie and Bobby walked past. A few minutes later, he saw them making their way down the hall, chatting with smiles on their faces. As soon as they were within hearing range, Alex called out to them. </p><p>“Pssst! Guys,” he whisper shouted, despite no one else really being around in that particular hallway. Reggie and Bobby froze in place, looking around for a moment before noticing Alex peeking out of the bathroom. </p><p>“Alex? What are you doing in the-“</p><p>“Just get in here, please,” Alex cut Reggie off, beckoning them inside. </p><p>Bobby took the lead, pushing the door open further, and as soon as he did, he gasped.</p><p>“Oh my god, you guys look like you’ve been through hell,” stated Bobby, who grabbed Reggie’s arm to pull him inside before shutting and locking the door again. </p><p>“Is he sleeping?” Reggie asked, frowning. Alex nodded tiredly, not even having the energy to respond to Bobby’s remark. </p><p>“Something happened in PE and he had a full on <em>meltdown</em>. Screaming, crying, the whole bit. I’m amazed that I even managed to calm him down,” Alex admitted, removing his baseball cap and running a hand through his messy blonde locks before replacing the hat on his head. </p><p>“What exactly happened in PE?” Bobby asked, making a move to sit down on the floor next to Alex. The drummer shrugged, returning his hand to Luke’s head where he once again began running his fingers through the little’s curls. </p><p>“I’m not really sure, honestly. I mean, he tripped and almost fell on his face, but I caught him before he could get hurt.”</p><p>Reggie sat down on Alex’s other side, eyes scanning Luke’s tensed and curled up body. </p><p>“How do we plan on getting him back?” Bobby asked, concerned that his question was still left relatively unanswered. </p><p>“I was thinking that we wait until the school clears out and carry him. The walk is short and I am <em>not</em> about to risk another meltdown if we wake him up.”</p><p>The other two quickly nodded in agreement. Despite not having been there during the incident, they knew how Luke could get. </p><p>They remained on the bathroom floor for a while longer, talking in hushed voices as not to disturb Luke’s sleep. There’s was a certain tension in the room, though. They all knew that the school situation would have to be discussed sooner or later. It’s not like this was something they’d be able to deal with every day. </p><p>Once they were pretty sure they’d be able to make their escape, they began grabbing their stuff, preparing to leave.</p><p>“Can one of you carry him? My arms are tired from holding him earlier,” Alex asked. Bobby nodded immediately, not hesitating to scoop Luke’s sleeping form into his arms with an arm beneath his knees and another supporting his back. The little just stirred, turning slightly so that he was curled into Bobby’s chest now instead of Alex’s. The rhythm guitarist couldn’t help but smile down at him. He was undeniably adorable. </p><p>They left the bathroom (thank god), and after Alex quickly dipped into the locker room to grab his and Luke’s stuff, they began making their way to the closest exit, constantly checking to make sure no one was coming from any direction. Soon enough, they made it out of the building and it was just a matter of getting odd looks from people on the sidewalks, which, to be honest, they got anyways. </p><p>The walk to the studio was short and relatively silent, Alex and Luke’s exhaustion seemingly spreading to the two remaining band members. </p><p>Bobby was relieved once they got inside the studio and he could finally set Luke down on the couch. They all swung off their backpacks, leaving them on the floor wherever they pleased and flopping down in their own locations. </p><p>“Ugh, I never want to go back there again,” Alex moaned from his spot on an old beanbag chair next to the couch. The other two (awake) band members nodded in agreement. </p><p>It was quiet for a moment before Luke’s shifting drew all of their attention. He turned slightly, eyes cracking open. He looked around for a moment and frowned, clearly unsure how he got to the studio when he last remembered being in a school bathroom. What he also remembered, though, was how desperately he wanted his teddy before he had fallen asleep. </p><p>“Teddy?” He mumbled sleepily, still not totally aware of his surroundings. Alex, in a near panic from fear of repeating the days events, sat up and scrambled to the other side of the room, grabbing Luke’s teddy and pacifier and bringing them over to the couch. He knelt in front of the sofa, settling the bear in Luke’s awaiting arms before placing the pacifier between his lips. </p><p>“Go back to sleep, sunshine,” he whispered, petting his head gently. Luke nodded and closed his eyes again, seemingly out within seconds. Alex brushed a bit of his hair off of his forehead before giving it a kiss and standing back up again. When he turned around, he was met by poorly contained smiles on the other guys’ faces. </p><p>“What?” He asked, confused as to why they were both so smiley. The two of them exchanged a look and Reggie shook his head. </p><p>“You’re such a dad, you know that?” The bassist asked, not even trying to hide his grin anymore. Bobby just nodded rapidly in agreement. </p><p>“And you guys aren’t?” Alex questioned as he tried to contain his blush. “Bobby, you literally carried him all the the way here.”</p><p>The rhythm guitarist rolled his eyes.</p><p>“He’s different with you, though,” Bobby responded, eyes drifting back to the boy on the couch.</p><p>“Can we just, watch a show or something?” Alex stammered, still standing, flustered, in front of the couch. </p><p>Bobby and Reggie chuckled but complied, quietly turning on the TV to a low volume as they all settled back down.</p><p>It was a rough day, one that left a lot of things to be determined. But they’d settle it all and everything would be ok. It always was, in the end. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh hey, would you look at that, I fixed the formatting. I hope you liked this long chonk of pure age reg angst (and that it’s now easier to read bc there are actual spaces between the paragraphs) and fluff because that stuff is fun af to write. Anyways, not sure what the next chapter will be about, but we’ll see.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Negotiations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“He didn’t want to have this conversation, like, <em>really</em> didn’t want to, but they all knew it was necessary.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Firstly, I have a Tumblr now! It’s <a href="https://0ut3rspace.tumblr.com/">0ut3rspace</a> if you wanna come scream about JATP or something, because I think that would pretty cool.<br/>Anyways, as for this chapter, I’m sorry that it’s short, but I wanted it to be kind of a place filler while I work on some better chapters and prepare to slaughter the guys with hot dogs (did I say that out?).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was later that Monday, about 6:00, when Luke woke up from his nap. His eyes were puffy and his face felt sticky from his earlier meltdown. This lead to a bit of fussiness, but with lots of hugs and a warm bath, he was settled back down and playing with his stuffed rabbit - endearingly named Bunbun - and his teddy on the couch, making up some sort of imaginative story with the two animals. Reggie had joined him a few minutes prior, giving the rabbit a silly voice that made Luke keep giggling.</p><p>Bobby, who was sitting next to them on the couch, was unsure what the story was about, but he picked up something about an ice cream truck and a stolen jar of cookies.</p><p>Alex, meanwhile, was in the loft where Luke couldn’t see him, siphoning through the papers in the boy’s backpack that he had collected throughout the school day. He knew it was a bit unnecessary, but he wanted to know what the boy’s school workload was like. As much as Alex cared about Luke’s future, he wasn’t sure if school was worth all the stress.</p><p>While Luke was asleep, the guys had discussed the school situation further. They still had yet to get Luke’s input, and if they were being honest, they were a bit scared.</p><p>Luke was stubborn, and that was most certainly not new information. But the situation with his parents and his regression was still relatively fresh, and the guys could tell that throwing school into the mix wouldn’t help one bit. </p><p>Alex had already counted 3 assignments, ones he was sure were never going to be completed by Luke, before sighing and shoving everything back into his backpack, climbing down the ladder to return to the other guys.</p><p>When his feet hit the ground, Bobby turned towards him, eyes silently asking him whether it was time to talk to Luke (the guys were all scarily good at communicating just by facial expressions), and Alex nodded. He didn’t want to have this conversation, like, <em>really</em> didn’t want to, but they all knew it was necessary.</p><p>“Hey Luke?” Bobby said, turning towards the little, who paused what he was doing to look back at the rhythm guitarist with a tilt of his head. “I know you’re playing, bud, but do you think you can be big? Just for a bit?”</p><p>Luke’s face fell and he pulled his teddy to his chest, squeezing it protectively.</p><p>“Wanna be little,” he whined with an angry frown.</p><p>“I promise you can be little right after we’re done, but we have to talk about something important,” Bobby reasoned. Luke huffed but nodded, not having the energy for another argument that day.</p><p>Alex smiled softly and walked over, kneeling in front of Luke who was still sat on the couch before holding his hands out for the other boy to take. The singer, already knowing the drill, reluctantly placed his teddy next to him before sliding his hands into Alex’s larger, calloused ones, taking a deep breathe and closing his eyes.</p><p>The blonde began with his instruction, helping him breathe in for 4 counts, hold his breath for 7, and breathe out for 8. They repeated the process for a few minutes as Bobby and Reggie watched on quietly before Luke cracked his eyes open again.</p><p>“Do we have big Luke back?” Bobby asked with a small smile, hoping that Luke wasn’t too upset. Fortunately, Luke nodded before smiling back, though it was clearly forced.</p><p>“I’m assuming we’re talking about school?” he guessed, sliding his hands out of Alex’s and sinking back into the couch. The other three just exchanged a sympathetic look and nodded. Luke sighed before gesturing for one of them to start the conversation.</p><p>“Well...we were talking earlier,” Alex began, pausing briefly, “and we’ve decided that if you don’t think school is right for you, we aren’t going to argue.”</p><p>Luke’s mouth opened in shock. He was expecting them to pull out all the stops to convince him to go back to that disgusting, torture center. He couldn’t have predicted them conceding before an argument even began, leaving the decision completely up to him. As soon as he came out of headspace, he’d been ready to give his speech about how close the band was to taking off, and how unimportant school would be once they found themselves inevitably playing bigger venues and getting signed to a record label.</p><p>“You’re not going to argue?” Luke asked, still blinking in shock. Alex just shook his head.</p><p>“You’ve said it before, and to be honest, I kinda agree. We’re <em>this</em> close to taking off,” Reggie held up his hand, displaying the small space between his pointer finger and thumb, “And once we do? We won’t need school anymore anyways. The only thing keeping me there now is my parents, really. Not that they actually care...” he trailed off and Bobby reached a hand up to comfortingly rub his shoulder.</p><p>“While I don’t completely agree, I do see where you guys are coming from,” Alex admitted. He was clearly holding back a harsher argument, but acknowledged that it wasn’t the time.</p><p>“Yeah, I second that,” Bobby piped up.</p><p>It was quiet for a moment, Luke letting everything the guys had said stew in his head.</p><p>“Thank you guys. For understanding,” he spoke up, giving them a smile, this one actually genuine.</p><p>“No need, man. It’s our job, isn’t it?” Bobby said, ruffling his hair affectionately. Luke swatted at his hand and rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Among other things, yeah,” he replied with a grin.</p><p>Luke, for the first time in a while, found himself wanting to stay big. He loved being little with the guys, and there was nothing that made him feel happier than being taken care of by them. But he did miss being able to talk with them like this - like an adult.</p><p>They ended up having a movie night, being able to watch something more mature for once (despite how much they all appreciated the Disney princess movies that Bobby found stashed in the back of his tape cabinet). </p><p>They spend the entire time whispering critiques to each other about the shitty acting and throwing bits of popcorn at like projectiles when they disagreed about whoever the serial killer in the film was going to murder next. After they finished the movie, they just sat and talked until Bobby announced the time.</p><p>“1:00 in the morning?! On a school a night! Ok, it’s time for everyone to get to sleep,” Alex demanded, standing up from the couch.</p><p>“But Alexxxxxx,” Luke whined, “I don’t even know if I’m <em>going</em> to school tomorrow.”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter. The rest of us are, and you’re going to be incredibly grumpy if you don’t get enough sleep,” Alex continued, ushering them all off the couch, too, so they could fold it out into a bed.</p><p>10 minutes later and they were all changed and curled up together beneath the blankets, Luke in the very center of the cuddle pile.</p><p>“I love you guys,” Luke mumbled, voice muffled from the blankets and bodies surrounding him. The response was a chorus of “we love you too”s from the other guys, causing Luke to smile into the sheets. He really did have the 3 best friends the world could ask for.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Once again, thank you peeps for reading! Your support is honestly the best, and I’m having so much fun writing this story. Oh, and happy late new year!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Sick Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“The light that filtered through the windows at the back of the studio felt at least ten times more intense than usual on his eyes, quickly worsening the pain in his head, and the quiet chatter coming from the other side of the room felt so loud. As he tried to inhale, a squeezing in his lungs made him cough sharply. He felt miserable.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well would you look at that. I’ve posted! Thank you so much to thisisnotourlasthunt for suggesting sick Luke!<br/>WARNING!!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTIONS OF VOMIT. ITS NOT TOO GRAPHIC, BUT ITS THERE, SO BE WARNED.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He messed up. He skipped school all week and he was finally being punished cruelly at the hands of god...</p><p>...or at least those were Luke’s thoughts as he woke up Saturday morning from an intense pounding in his head, heaviness in his chest, and inability to breathe through his nose.</p><p>He hadn’t fallen asleep in his headspace, but as he would have with any amount of discomfort or overwhelming emotions, he found himself quickly slipping the second his eyes opened.</p><p>The light that filtered through the windows at the back of the studio felt at least ten times more intense than usual on his eyes, quickly worsening the pain in his head, and the quiet chatter coming from the other side of the room felt so <em>loud</em>. As he tried to inhale, a squeezing in his lungs made him cough sharply. He felt <em>miserable</em>.</p><p>He let out a loud whine as he rolled over to bury his face back in his blankets, tears beginning to leak from the corners of his eyes.</p><p>The voices towards the other side of the studio quieted and he heard the quick sound of footsteps approaching the couch upon which he was laid, face down and covered in blankets.</p><p>“Luke? Hon?”</p><p>A hand carded through his hair and he found himself leaning into the cool touch, not realizing how warm he felt until the fingers touched his skin.</p><p>“You’re really warm, baby. Are you feeling all right?”</p><p>The voice, which clearly belonged to Bobby, was full of concern, as his hand continued its comforting motion in Luke’s hair.</p><p>Luke just shook his head and whined again, turning slightly to reveal his face to Bobby and Reggie who were standing next to him, frowning deeply.</p><p>“Oh, Lukey,” Reggie fretted, kneeling down on the floor next to him upon seeing his puffy eyes and flushed cheeks.</p><p>At that, Luke let out a sob, immediately stretching his hands out towards the bassist. If there was one thing the boy liked when he was feeling bad, it was physical affection.</p><p>Reggie immediately complied, scooping Luke into his arms and sitting where the boy had previously laid, the blankets bunching up around Luke’s body in Reggie’s arms. Bobby knelt down to be face to face with Luke, brushing a strand of hair off his sweaty forehead.</p><p>“Is there anything I can get for you? Paci? Teddy?” He asked, receiving a small nod in response.</p><p>Bobby spotted the tattered bear on the floor next to the couch where it must have fallen amidst Luke’s restless sleep, grabbing it along with the pacifier on the coffee table.</p><p>Luke was quick to accept both items, still curled tightly into Reggie.</p><p>“‘wex?” He asked around the plastic in his mouth.</p><p>Bobby smiled sadly at the miserable boy.</p><p>“He’s inside. I’ll go grab him and bring some stuff out,” Bobby said, rustling Luke’s hair before standing up to exit the studio, heading towards Alex’s house that was next to the studio.</p><p>Since Alex’s parents weren’t home, he headed right inside and immediately began trying to locate the blonde.</p><p>He had come inside earlier to do some laundry and gather some more stuff for the studio, so Bobby headed towards his room. Sure enough, there the blonde was, rifling through his closet, a pile of clothes and other items on his crisply made bed.</p><p>“Hey, Bobs. What’s up?” He asked, only looking up briefly before continuing his rifling.</p><p>“Luke’s sick,” Bobby sighed leaning against the doorframe. Alex paused and looked up, eyes widening in worry.</p><p>“What? Sick? Is he alright?” He asked frantically, dropping the stuff in his hands and pushing past Bobby, quickly exiting the room.</p><p>The rhythm guitarist rolled his eyes and grabbed Alex’s shoulder, effectively halting his panicked speed-walking.</p><p>“Relax, man. He’s gonna be ok. But we need to bring some stuff out for him. Do you have liquid cold medicine?” Bobby asked, pulling Alex towards the bathroom to check the medicine cabinet.</p><p>“I’m not sure-“</p><p>“Well you check, and I’ll go get him some juice, alright?”</p><p>Alex nodded and Bobby patted him on the shoulder, leaving for the kitchen.</p><p>When they had begun to buy a lot more stuff for Luke’s headspace, Alex had shown them an unused drawer he found in his kitchen, hidden away amongst the other cabinets. They had begun storing some of Luke’s stuff in there so they had easy access to it when they were in Alex’s house.</p><p>Bobby opened the drawer and grabbed a sippy cup, one of the newer additions to the regression collection, and a jug of apple juice from the fridge.</p><p>“Ok, I’ve got some stuff here to take out to him,” Alex said as he entered the kitchen with a very full drawstring bag.</p><p>Bobby raised an eyebrow as he finished filling the cup and screwing on the lid.</p><p>“What are you bringing out? an entire pharmacy?” He asked sarcastically.</p><p>“Shut up. We want him to be as comfortable as possible, don’t we?”</p><p>The two headed back out towards the studio, Bobby struggling not to coo as he spotted Luke still curled up on Reggie’s lap, the bassist slowly rocking him. Alex, meanwhile, promptly dropped his bag and ran over to Luke, kneeling in front of him to cup the boys face in his hands.</p><p>“Hey, sunshine. How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?” He asked, wiping the tears from the boys cheeks.</p><p>Luke just whined and reached his hands out again, towards Alex now, who quickly lifted him into his arms, the blankets falling to the floor.</p><p>He began bouncing Luke comfortingly in his arms, whispering sweet words into his ear, Luke’s bear still in his arms.</p><p>Bobby and Reggie shared a look of exasperation, but they were both grinning.</p><p>They all loved little Luke and little Luke loved all of them, but Alex being a complete papa bear definitely helped him form a special bond with the lead singer.</p><p>Bobby took this opportunity to put the cup down on the table and begin rummaging through the bag that Alex had abandoned on the floor.</p><p>He pulled out one of the bottles of cold medicine that Alex had found, a daytime one flavored like cherry (he cringed at that), and set it on the table, too.</p><p>“We brought you some juice and medicine, honey,” Bobby said, to the silently crying boy in Alex’s arms.</p><p>Luke’s eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head rather rapidly, burying his face into Alex’s shoulder.</p><p>They all frowned at this. Sure, cold medicine was nasty, but they’d have thought he’d do whatever it took to get better soon.</p><p>“I know it’s kinda gross, bud, but don’t you wanna feel better?” Reggie asked, standing up from the couch to pet at Luke’s head. The little remained silent, sucking harder on his pacifier.</p><p>“What if you have some juice first? It’s apple juice, your favorite...” Bobby encouraged, lifting up the cup. When Luke shook his head once again, though, they knew something had to be dealt wrong.</p><p>“Baby, you’re not gonna feel better if you don’t take anything,” Alex sighed sympathetically. It was obvious that Luke was feeling unwell, but it seemed that he was doing a lot worse then he let on. What would prompt him to turn down his cold medicine <em>and</em> his juice?</p><p>The realization hit him pretty quickly.</p><p>“Lukey, does your tummy hurt?” He asked in a gentle tone.</p><p>Luke nodded at the question, whimpering softly. The other three guys exchanged a look of fear and uncertainty. Having a cold was one thing, but a full on stomach bug was another. The poor boy must have been feeling awful, too awful to even say anything.</p><p>“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,” Alex consoled.</p><p>“Do you feel like you’re gonna be sick?” Reggie asked, worried for the regressed boy. He just shrugged a reply, which, while not a “yes”, was pretty damn close to one.</p><p>Bobby cringed and knelt back down to search through Alex’s bag once again this time pulling out a bottle of nighttime cold medicine, the kind that makes you tired.</p><p>“How about you take this, bud? It’ll make you sleepy, and hopefully you’ll feel a bit better when you wake up,” Bobby suggested, trying his best to convince Luke to take the medicine. Luke’s face scrunched up in disgust and he turned his head away.</p><p>“Please, Lukey? For us? We just want you to feel better,” Reggie begged. Luke lifted his head to look at the bassist, almost as if he was scanning his face for dishonesty despite knowing how much the boys cared about him, before slowly nodding.</p><p>The other three visibly relaxed, relived that Luke would hopefully be able to sleep off the nasty bug. Alex’s arms were getting tired so he sat down on the couch with the boy as Bobby opened the bottle of cherry-red syrup, pouring it into the included measuring cup.</p><p>“Drink this, and then you can wash it down with the juice,” Bobby said, removing the pacifier from a reluctant Luke’s mouth, holding the cup up to his lips instead. Luke’s nose scrunched up but he downed the syrup anyways, sputtering slightly afterwards. The liquid was absolutely vile tasting, and to make it worse, the bitterness clung to his tongue and the roof of his mouth even after he swallowed.</p><p>He reached towards the juice which Bobby was quick to bring to lips. The sweetness helped with the horrid flavor of the medicine, but unfortunately, it didn’t help in the slightest with the churning in his stomach.</p><p>He managed a few sips before he pushed the cup away for Bobby to set back down.</p><p>“Great job, sunshine,” Alex praised, kissing the top of his head. Reggie and Bobby smiled at him too, giving him gentle encouragement, and Bobby put the pacifier back in his mouth.</p><p>“How about we pull out the bed?” Reggie suggested, earning affirmative nods from the others.</p><p>They sat Luke on the ground as they began pulling the couch out into a bed, layering on the blankets that had fallen to the floor.</p><p>Luke was quick to crawl into the center of the bed beneath the covers, the other guys slotting themselves in next to him. None of them had Saturday plans, so they were free to just lay with Luke until he was feeling better.</p><p>~~~</p><p>They had all fallen asleep at some point, but were woken abruptly by noisy sobs.</p><p>Alex was the first to sit up, his dad instincts kicking in immediately.</p><p>He quickly turned towards Luke and felt overcome with a wave of worry and sympathy upon seeing how miserable the poor boy looked.</p><p>His hair was damp with sweat and his face was flushed from an evident fever. There were tears streaming down his face and his eyes were glassy and pained.</p><p>Alex reached over to pull the little into an embrace, shushing his as he rubbed his back. Bobby and Reggie were quick to sit up, too, equally as worried.</p><p>“What wrong, honey? What hurts?” Alex asked, trying his best to coax an answer from the crying boy. Luke let out a stream of incoherent babble-like whined around his pacifier, and the others frowned.</p><p>Bobby gently removed the pacifier from his mouth and pushed a hand through Luke’s hair.</p><p>“Take a few deep breaths, buddy,” he suggested, trying to calm him down enough to talk.</p><p>Luke took a couple gulpy breaths of air, head leaning on Alex’s shoulder.</p><p>“There we go. See? Shhhh,” Reggie cooed, petting Luke’s head. He still seemed unable to calm down, but they kept on trying their best, comforting him and cuddling him incessantly.</p><p>It wasn’t long before the inevitable happened, though.</p><p>Luke heaved suddenly and let out a gag, but there was nothing the guys could do before he pitched forward and promptly vomited the contents of his stomach down the back of Alex’s light blue hoodie.</p><p>“<em>Shit</em>,” the blonde cursed under his breath.</p><p>Luke began to sob harder, crying out half-coherent apologies.</p><p>“Oh god. Ok, um...” Reggie stammered, beginning to look around frantically.</p><p>“Hey, no, it’s fine. Shhh, Lukey, it’ll be okay, baby,” Bobby comforted, standing up from the bed. “Alex, you stay there for a second, I’ll be right back.”</p><p>If any one of them was good at operating under stressful situations, it was Bobby. He was the cool and collected one who always seemed to know what to do, and he acted as the stability when things started to get hectic.</p><p>Reggie did pretty well, too, but the ideas he came up with were all very...Reggie, and often times not the most practical.</p><p>Bobby ran towards the bathroom as Alex stayed frozen in place upon his instruction, Reggie quickly taking the rhythm guitarist’s place comforting Luke.</p><p>“It’s okay, buddy. It’s gonna be okay, yeah?” Reggie soothed until Bobby emerged from the bathroom with a towel.</p><p>He walked over and began to wipe off Luke’s face and Alex’s hoodie to the best of his ability.</p><p>“Do you feel like you’re gonna be sick again, honey?” He asked Luke, trying his best not to curse at the nod of Luke’s head.</p><p>“Reggie, take him to the bathroom?” Bobby pleaded, continuing to help Alex clean off.</p><p>“On it,” Reggie exclaimed, scooping up the boy in question and sprinting to the bathroom.</p><p>“Take that off and I’ll get you another shirt, ‘kay?” Bobby instructed, getting up and setting down the towel, cringing at the sound of choked gags coming from the bathroom. Alex yanked off his hoodie and shirt, careful not to spread the mess, and thanked Bobby when he came back with a new hoodie for him to tug on.</p><p>“I’m gonna finish cleaning up out here. You should probably get in there, Luke needs you,” Bobby stated, nodding towards the bathroom.</p><p>“Thanks, Bobs,” Alex nodded, snapping out of his slight anxious daze to do what Bobby had suggested.</p><p>He felt a pang in his chest at the sight when he walked through the doorway; Luke’s face was pale as a sheet and wet from tears, sweat, and snot, and his laid lethargically on the toilet seat as Reggie ran his fingers through his matted hair.</p><p>“You poor thing,” Alex murmured, kneeling on his other side to rub at his back. He and exchanged a frown with Reggie over top of Luke’s head, but said nothing else.</p><p>After a few minutes free from Luke being sick again, Reggie spoke up.</p><p>“Would you like to go lay back down?” He asked the barely conscious boy, who replied with a groggy nod. He made no attempt to move, though, so Alex automatically stood and scooped Luke up, the little practically dead weight in his arms. The brunette’s head fell against Alex’s chest, his eyes blinking slowly. Alex winced. He looked like he was on the verge of passing out. He walked back out into the main area of the studio to see Bobby finishing re-making the bed with a clean blanket, a bag of now-dirty laundry on the floor besides him. Alex smiled in thanks as he moved to lay Luke down, Reggie following him with the trash can from the bathroom which he set beside the bed.</p><p>“He can barely keep his eyes open,” Alex fretted. “We should probably take his temperature. There’s a thermometer in my bag.”</p><p>Alex rested the back of his hand against Luke’s forehead as Bobby rummaged through his bag before handing him a thermometer.</p><p>“Open up, hon,” Alex coaxed, managing to stick the thermometer between the half-asleep boy’s lips.</p><p>They all waited in anticipation as it rested beneath his tongue, beeping after a minute. Alex pulled it out and cringed at the number on the device.</p><p>“101.2. Definitely a fever,” he reported, looking back up at the pale and sweaty little. “Not a surprise.”</p><p>“We need to get him to drink, or he’s going to get dehydrated,” Bobby informed, grabbing a bottle of water from their mini fridge. “Luke?” He asked as he knelt next to the bed. “You need to drink some water, buddy, or you won’t feel any better.”</p><p>Luke didn’t even move a muscle.</p><p>Bobby sighed, but spotted the half empty sippy cup on the coffee table.</p><p>He went to go dump it out in the bathroom sink before returning to the others and filling it up with water from the bottle he had set down.</p><p>Alex, meanwhile, climbed onto the bed and pulled Luke into his lap to the best of his ability, as the little was practically a rag doll at this point.</p><p>Alex reached towards Bobby who handed him the cup, and the blonde held his breathe as he stuck it between Luke’s lips. He breathed out deeply, though, when Luke began sleepily drinking the water.</p><p>“God, I really hope he doesn’t get any worse,” Bobby mumbled, collapsing onto the bed. Reggie nodded rapidly in agreement.</p><p>“We can’t even take him to the doctor. If it gets bad, we’re screwed,” the bassist explained, plopping down next to Bobby.</p><p>“Shoot, you’re right. What do we <em>do</em>?” asked Alex, clearly trying his best to hide the anxiety in his voice. Bobby gave Reggie a subtle glare for worrying Alex, but quickly turned to blonde.</p><p>“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Alex. Let’s just keep him hydrated, and we can try to get some more medicine in him if his stomach settles a bit,” Bobby reassured. Alex nodded, though he didn’t seem to settle all that much.</p><p>Luke fell completely asleep fairly quickly and they all piled back underneath the covers again.</p><p>They would stay until Luke felt better.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know it ends a bit abruptly but I wasn’t sure where to go with it lmao. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll try to update again within the next week or two!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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